The Dragon of the East
by Feeruk
Summary: Naruto is the Fire Nation Councilman in the United Republic Council. Venturing to the South Pole at the behest of one of his old Firebending instructors, he spars and subsequently befriends none other than the Avatar. With this new politically-savvy ally at her side, how will Korra's legend be altered? Chakra-less, Firebender Naruto. Other warnings inside.
1. The South Pole

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Legend of Korra. This is purely a piece of fiction that is being made without profit.**

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><p><span><strong> Author's Notes<strong>

_(Please take the time to read these before starting to avoid possible frustration.)_

**Warnings:**** Firebender/Chakra-less/Strong/Intelligent/Older (20)/Politically Savvy/Mature/OOC Naruto. Many of you will also undoubtedly view him as quite Gary Stu-ish, though it is not my ultimate intention to make him invincible by any means. A handful of other characters from the Naruto-verse will also be mentioned or seen, but none of them (save one notable exception) will have significant impact on the story. Older Jinora (+2 years). Relatively heavy canon story-line and several cliche plot points. **

**Also, my track record of updating and continuing stories is quite horrid. Continue reading and/or becoming invested in the story at your own risk!**

**Pairings:**** The final pairing will have Naruto coupled with Asami, Korra, and eventually Jinora. However, it's worth noting that both Asami and Korra will go through their 'Mako phase' first. Mako will, ultimately, likely end up paired with no one. Side pairing of Bolin/Opal. **

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><p><span><strong>Naruto Uzumaki: The Dragon of the East<strong>

**Chapter 1: The South Pole**

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><p><strong>(Sourthern Water Tribe Compound, just after dawn.)<strong>

"So, are you excited?" An elderly female asked with mirth as she turned her gaze to the left.

"Hell yeah!" A teenage girl exclaimed enthusiastically. "All I have to do is beat this cocky big shot's butt and then I'm _finally_ done with Firebending!"

Said teenager had darkened skin that was a distinct trademark of being a member of the Water Tribe along with piercing blue eyes. She had brunette hair that was pulled back into a pony tail and a bundle of hair funneled through a blue sleeve framing either side of her face.

She was currently clad in thick fur armor that had a special coating of red leather atop it along her chest and arms – the pieces being held in place with numerous leather straps. The chest piece protested both her front and back, and it extended several inches down her thighs. The helmet currently tucked under her arm seemed to be an additional piece to the armor set as well.

Below said armor, one could make out the start of a light-blue top underneath her chest piece, a pair loose-fitting, dark-blue pants and a pair of furred leather boots – said gear looking much more Water Tribe-ish than what rested over it.

"I mean...yes, Master Katara," she rephrased with a fake cough after her initial outburst.

The elderly men and women that stood next to her merely sweat dropped at her reaction so early in the morning, but wrote it off as the teen merely being excited. However, one man in traditional Fire Nation robes took the opportunity to respond.

"I assure you, Avatar Korra, that this is not some 'cocky big shot,' as you've so eloquently stated. I trained him in the basics personally when he was younger, and he was later personally tutored by Lord Zuko."

The man who had spoken was, of course, Korra's Firebending instructor for the past two years. The others standing next to him were none other than some of the highest members of the White Lotus as well as Katara – each of them clad in their traditional White Lotus attire.

"Oh whatever," Korra huffed in response. "He just sounds like some big shot noble from the Fire Nation."

"I think you would do well to keep your mind open to the possibilities, Korra," Katara chastised softly from the side with a smile still etched onto her wrinkled face at the line her deceased husband quoted rather frequently. "I've actually heard a lot about this boy myself."

"Really?" The Avatar responded curiously with a raised brow as she turned to her Waterbending instructor.

"Oh yes," the elderly woman responded with a nod. "Zuko tends to drone on about him quite a bit when he finds time to write to me. Even Tenzin had mentioned the boy quite a bit in the last two years or so in his letters since the boy moved to Republic City from the Fire Nation…or actually moved _back_, I believe. I must say, from how they describe him, I'm a bit excited to finally meet him myself. I highly doubt he'll be like the other royals you've had to meet with already."

"You do remember the title he has obtained, do you not, Korra?" The elderly Firebending instructor asked with a raised brow as the teenager processed the knowledge Katara had given her.

"Yeah, the Dragon of the East or something like that, right?" Korra asked with a slightly nervous grin as she resisted the urge to scratch the back of her head. She wasn't exactly the best at committing titles bestowed upon most people to memory, after all.

"The Dragon of the East," the elderly man repeated as is to confirm her answer with a nod of his head. "However, as you are undoubtedly aware, the Fire Nation has long since abandoned the practice of hunting dragons. So, tell me, how do you think one gets such a highly-coveted title nowadays?" He finished with a glance over to Korra as he raised an eyebrow.

"I…have no idea," she finally admitted somewhat sheepishly after a momentary silence. "I figured he probably just got it for being a member of the Royal Family or being related to Iroh."

"No, even members of the Royal Family do not get to claim the title of Dragon without just cause," the elderly man stated with a slightly disappointed shake of his head. "Besides, even if that _were_ the case, it's highly unlikely that Lord Naruto of all people would be shown any nepotism in that regard. While he _is_ considered to be a member of the Royal Family unofficially, he is _not_ related to them by legitimate blood ties. That is a merely a common misconception."

"Really?" Korra asked with curiosity evident in her tone. "…Alright, so how'd he get it?"

_**ROOOOOAR**_

The sound, of course, caused everyone to glance up into the area of the sky where it had come from immediately. Coming from the northwest, just now visible over the high walls around the compound, came a black form on the horizon that was slowly growing larger. Though most of the finer details couldn't be seen from the distance, the distinct shape of large wings flapping up and down were certainly visible already.

"No. Freaking. Way!" Korra stated with emphasis upon each word. "Is that…?"

"Lord Naruto, the Dragon of the East," the elderly Firebending instructor asked with a soft chuckle at the absolutely _perfect_ timing. "Why yes, that would be him."

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><p>"Hehehe, awesome job boy," said man stated from the back of the large, black, Eastern-style dragon he was currently riding atop of while he scratched a spot along the creature's head – causing it to hum slightly in response after its roar. "There's no way they didn't hear that."<p>

The main scales and wing webbing of the majestic creature were black as one might expect, but the curved horns, the spikes and slight webbing in between said spikes down its body, the frill of hair around its face, and at the tip of its tail were also black. Its underbelly, including the underside of its lower-jaw, and its two tendrils were a dark gray color that seemed to compliment the black scales that composed most of its body quite nicely. The creature's talons were a pristine white along with its teeth. Finally, finishing off its appearance, were the two sky-blue eyes that peered towards the compound it was flying towards.

Wrapped around the base of the dragon's head, seeing as it wouldn't fit well anywhere else due to the 'spikes' that ran along its spine, was a medium-sized saddle that held the creature's rider. It wasn't anything dedicated to looking formal judging by the lack of any designs on the leather, but merely a riding saddle that provided some measure of comfort for the rider if he needed to sit so that his body wouldn't be rubbed raw against the hard scales.

Resting upon said saddle, near the hard leather that made a make-shift ledge of sorts around its edges, was a sizable bag tied to the leather firmly with thick string. Then, of course, sitting at the front of the saddle was Naruto.

He was a man who seemed like he would be roughly six-foot-two when standing upright. His hair seemed to be a rare shade of golden blond, especially since blond hair was already a rarity within the world to begin with. Coupled with that was the fact that his hair possessed such an unnatural level of spikiness that it seemed to defy the laws of gravity – something that would draw in a great deal of attention.

Unlike most men in the Fire Nation, Naruto kept his hair short and without any sort of ceremonial knot in the back. His bangs mostly hovered just above his brow, though two long at the edges of his hairline traveled down to his cheeks – effectively framing his face as a result. His eyes seemed to be a piercing cerulean blue, only a shade or two darker than the dragon's own. However, while his hair and eyes were certainly striking features about him, the most eye-catching would likely be the 3 whisker marks he possessed on either of his cheeks.

Aside from that, the blond was clad in clothing that many people of the older generation would recognize as a slightly modified version of the outfit that Zuko wore in his prime when he was traveling informally.

He wore what seemed to be a form-fitting, long-sleeved black shirt as his first layer on his torso as evidenced by the layer of fine black cloth functioned as a second skin over the visible areas of his arm – detailing the toned muscle of his biceps. Atop that was a sleek piece of leather Fire Nation chest armor that also provided basic shoulder-guards. Said armor, though only visible at the shoulders and collar due to another layer of clothing that rested atop parts of it, was crimson with black trim. Finally, atop the armor, he wore a crimson, sleeveless kimono-style shirt that had a lengthened back with black trim along the edges of chest. The front portion of it ended at his waist, but the back continued down far enough that it would reach his calves.

Traveling downwards from there, he wore leather arm-guards that seemed to match the coloration of his exposed shoulder pads perfectly. They covered from just below his elbow down to his wrist. From there, a pair of black, fingerless gloves made out of the same fine material as his black shirt could be seen covering his hands.

Traveling down from there, the next notable piece of armor would be his rather large belt – a fitted piece of dark-colored metal that rested upon his hips. In the center of said belt was the insignia of the Fire Nation in highly-polished gold. Partially secured underneath the Fire Nation insignia were two pouches – one effectively held at each of the blond's hips with the other strap for each secured under the back of his belt. Underneath the pouch on his left hip was a thin black sheath and the bandage-wrapped hilt for a Jian with a small, golden pommel.

Attached to the belt was also a rather elegant piece of cloth that fell to his knees. The centerpiece fell between his legs and was crimson in the center with black trim to match the coloration rest of his armor. Two smaller pieces of similarly colored cloth then framed the piece with small flame patterns on the side closest to the centerpiece. This cloth, while mostly worn for appearance's sake, also served to ensure that the elongated back of his kimono didn't swing completely in front of him to impede his movement in any significant way.

Beneath that, he wore a pair of loose black pants without any sort of decoration, though they were mostly hidden from view by the cloth that hung from his belt as well as his greaves. Said greaves, going with the theme already made, were primarily crimson with black trim within the center and at the ankles.

Finally, finishing his ensemble was a simple pair of black shoes, though they were without the curved tips that most people from the Fire Nation seemed to wear.

**(AN: If you have a hard time getting a mental image of his appearance as I've described it, just search for "Adult Zuko" on a search engine, mentally swap the colors around, switch the faces/hair, make the shirt tighter, replace the swords with a single Jian, and it will give you a general idea.)**

"Land us nice and easy boy," Naruto stated as he shifted forward a bit and pat the dragon behind the head again while they drew closer to the compound they were expected to land within. "No need to go scaring anyone here."

_Yipp_

Letting out a sigh, the blond returned to his normal sitting position and glanced towards the small ball of fur on his lap: a small fox kit that had been at his side as long as he could remember. It was weird enough that it was a creature rarely ever seen of within their world. Weirder still was the fact that it hadn't grown an inch since that day despite having been fed quite well. However, the weirdest fact about the creature by far would have to be the 9 distinct tails that swished behind it as well as its oddly human-like front 'paws.'

The fox possessed orange fur save for the black markings that traced around its eyes and led up into its inner-ears. If anyone were to look close enough, they would also see that the creature possessed crimson-colored irises with a black slit for a pupil – an ominous sight if ever there was one.

All things considered, it was a very unique creature. Naruto had even gotten countless offers to buy the fox to likely try to breed him or treat him as a prized possession just as he had for the creature he was currently riding upon. However, the two creatures were as much a piece of his identity as a piece of his body was, and he wouldn't part with either of them if someone were to offer the world to him on a silver platter.

"Quiet you," Naruto stated as he playfully ran a clothed hand over the creature's head. "No yipping this early in the morning."

He, of course, received a playful nip on his fingers in response.

"Oi, no biting Kurama," the teen stated again as he repeated the previous motion with a bit more vigor – earning a slight growl from the fox before it tried to bite the blond's hand again only to miss.

"Hah, too slow," the Fire Nation man stated before blowing a soft raspberry. However, he stopped his teasing as his current method of transportation began to slowly descend. As the blond grew closer and closer to the ground, he directed his gaze to the figures on a large platform who were likely waiting for him to land.

'_Hmm, I suppose the one in red must be Korra,' _Naruto thought as he could make out their vague appearances from how close he had gotten. Slowly, a grin crept across his face until it was full-blown and showed off his pristine teeth. _'This should certainly be fun.' _

Slowly, the dragon continued its descent until it made its landing. As it did, it became evident that its body was so large that it spanned a good three-fourths of the length of elevated stone platform it landed upon.

"Okay, show time," the blond stated as he stood up upon the saddle after coming to a stop. Having picked up Kurama from his lap before moving, he raised his arms and deposited the fox kit directly upon his scalp. Though an odd place to hold an animal, Naruto knew all too well by now that it was a place the creature liked to claim as his perch.

With well-practiced grace, he hopped off of the saddle even as the group of individuals moved a bit to greet him where he had landed. However, he paid them no mind for the time being and moved to the face of the dragon that had carried him so far instead. Coming around to face it directly, he met its eyes and placed a hand under its jaw and scratched the scales beneath, eliciting another small hum.

"Thanks Iroh, we're probably going to be here for at least a day or two, so rest up while you can," he stated as he raised the clothed hand that had scratched his lower jaw and placed it upon his snout. "I'll see if the White Lotus will bring you something to eat a little later, alright?"

The dragon, now dubbed Iroh, merely exhaled and gave a small nod of his head – showing that he could seemingly understand the blond.

"Great, now behave yourself, alright? I don't want to get grief about a charred White Lotus member later."

A warm gust of air that was more forceful than necessary was shot out of Iroh's nostrils in response, showing his slight annoyance to that last remark.

"Oh come on, I wouldn't be me if I didn't pick on you at least little bit buddy," Naruto stated with a chuckle as he pat his snout and walked away to the group that had been waiting for him for a few moments now. As he did so, he swung his gaze across the people present despite it being so early in the morning.

'_Three older folks dressed in formal White Lotus robes…I have absolutely no idea who they are,' _he thought as he swung his gaze to the next person. _'Ah, that's probably Katara,' _he continued as he spotted an elderly woman in traditional Water Tribe clothing. _'Then Avatar Korra, obviously,' _he continued as his gaze lingered on her appearance for a bit longer than necessary before shifting to the last person in the line.

"Master Lee!"***** Naruto suddenly exclaimed as he walked forward, missing the slightly wide-eyed Korra who was drinking in his appearance along with the others who had never seen him before. Without anything further, Naruto opened his arms and embraced the slightly shorter man in a fierce hug as he moved closer, surprising everyone present even further. "It's so good to see you again," the teen finally stated as he relinquished his hold on the man and took a few steps back.

"As it is you, Lord Naruto," the man stated with a bow.

"No, no, no," Naruto stated as he reached a hand forward to the man's bowed forehead and pushed him back up to his standing position. "No 'Lord' stuff and no bowing. You know that I hate those sorts of things, especially from you of all people."

"I see that the past few years haven't changed you very much…_Councilman_ Naruto," the elderly man stated with a faint smirk upon his lips at seeing the blond's eye twitch in response to his altered but no-less-accurate title. "Regardless, thank you for making the trip here. I apologize for pulling you away from your yearly visit with Zuko."

"Bah, it isn't a big deal," the blond stated with a rather infectious chuckle. "Besides, there's someone here I've always wanted to meet anyway."

At this, Korra stood a bit straighter and prepared to greet him properly, but found herself genuinely surprised when he walked directly past her and stood in front of her Waterbending Master.

'_Huh…this guy's definitely different,' _she thought with a slightly furrowed brow as memories of nearly every royal she had met previously immediately sucking up to her came to mind. So far, not only did Naruto appear to be experienced fighter unlike the others based on clothing choices and muscles that were coating his arms based on the bulges against the form-fitting shirt around his arms, but he seemed kind and surprisingly informal as well. _'He definitely looks __**much**__ better than the others as well,' _her mind continued as she shivered at remembering a good deal of pompous and rather ugly nobles who had visited blatantly flirting with her ever since she had turned fifteen.

"You must be Katara," Naruto stated warmly towards the elderly woman, blissfully unaware of Korra's current thoughts. He then inclined his hips downwards slightly in a bow towards the woman as a show of respect. "It is an honor to finally meet you. I've heard a great deal about you and your adventures."

"Please, after what you said a moment ago, there's no need for formalities here," Katara stated in a soft tone with a smile stretching upon her wrinkled face. "I've heard a great deal about you as well though Naruto, or should I call you the Prank King of the Royal Palace?"

At this, the blond froze momentarily before smiling nervously and scratching the back of his head nervously with his hands brushing against Kurama's tails.

"Zuko wrote about that of all things? Man, I miss those days," he stated with a chuckle as he remembered pulling said pranks on some of the more pompous nobles that would be in the palace on a nearly daily basis.

"Yes, he likes to ramble on about you quite a bit in his letters," Katara stated with a laugh from her throat. "My son did too, for that matter, though I am already beginning to see why that is the case."

"Tenzin? You would think he'd write about his own kids before taking the time to mention little old me," Naruto responded with another chuckle as he reached up a hand and scratched the fox atop his head behind the ear after feeling the creature claw his scalp a bit.

"Oh he does," the elderly Water Tribe woman responded with a grin that grew just a bit more. "He usually happens to mention you when he's talking about the others, Meelo in particular."

"Ah, well what can I say?" the blond responded with a shrug of his shoulders. "I always wanted a little sibling, we've come to see each other as such, and we brothers gotta stick together," he finished with a small smile.

"Well, I'm glad my grandchildren have such a good role model to look up to," she responded as her smile grew just a bit wider. "But we can talk about Tenzin and the others later. Korra here has been looking forward to this for quite some time," she stated with a gesture towards her left.

"Well I certainly can't say I haven't been doing the same," Naruto stated with a chuckle as he turned his gaze to the teenager in question – letting his piercing blue eyes gaze meet hers for the first time. "It's an honor to meet you as well, Avatar Korra," he greeted as he held out his hand towards her.

Shaking her head a bit to get out of her momentary stupor after staring at the blond's facial features, said woman extended her hand and gripped his in a firm handshake. Though she didn't let it show on her face, she found herself surprised immediately at the warmth his hand exuded.

"Likewise, Lord Naruto," she responded cordially with a friendly smile on her face.

"Uuuuugh, please don't be like Lee and use the stupid title," Naruto stated somewhat childishly after taking his hand back and running it down his face in an exasperated fashion. "I'm not _Lord _Naruto, I'm not _Councilman_ Naruto. I'm just Naruto! I hate all my freaking titles," he finished with a grumble.

"Alright then," Korra responded after a moment with a grin as she started to get a proper feel of his personality. "I won't use your title if you don't use mine," she offered in compromise. Though she was certainly accustomed to people calling her by said title since it had been with her for nearly her entire life, she didn't particularly like to hear it used when it wasn't necessary.

"Heh, fair enough," the blond stated after a moment with a small nod of acknowledgement towards her. "I'm guessing based on your gear that you're ready for our little spar then?"

"Yes!" The Avatar stated eagerly as she moved her helmet from under her arm to over her head – taking only a moment to adjust her hair so that her ponytail was securely slipped through the hole in the back of it. "I wanna get to Airbending already, so let's do this!"

"Korra, Lord Naruto has likely had a long flight to arrive here so early at our request. Perhaps you should allow him to have breakfast first?" One of the White Lotus men stated with an inquisitive glance towards the blond.

'_Well, he sounds like a barrel of laughs…just what I wanted to deal with today,' _the blond thought with an inward sigh at hearing his title used once again despite his small outburst just a few moments ago.

"Hmmm…nah, it's alright," Naruto stated after silently chuckling at the distraught face the dark-skinned teenager had for a moment at the thought of prolonging her test further. "I had a small snack on the way here. Plus, like I said, I'm nearly as excited for this as Korra here is."

Suddenly, Korra's distraught look turned into one of elation for a brief moment before she schooled it down to one of relative neutrality again. She did still, however, shoot the blond an incredibly thankful smile.

"Very well then," the man acquiesced with a nod as he turned towards the elderly Firebending Master. "Shall we head down to the sparring area?"

"Yes," Lee responded somewhat mirthfully as he tore his gaze away from the two teenagers. "Let's move into the pavilion. Naruto, I presume you don't need our usual safety equipment?"

"Hm? Oh, nah," the blonde stated with a dismissive wave of his hand as he turned towards the man. "This stuff's all made out of Fire Silk or our usual leather," he stated as he pulled along his sleeve and then smacked one of his arm-guards. This, of course, merely meant that his attire was nearly impervious to fire – at least when it was anything short of prolonged exposure to _incredibly_ intense flames. The leather was common within the Fire Nation as it was used for their standard-issue armor, but the silk was a rare and valuable material that only the wealthy could hope to be able to afford an entire outfit of.

Giving a nod, Lee merely turned and walked down the stairs of the raised stone portion of the compound towards a slightly elevated arena beneath it with a wooden pavilion for spectators to watch. The rest of the group quickly followed after him with Naruto and Korra bringing up the rear – the latter glancing over towards the former occasionally out of the corner of her eyes.

'_I can tell he has some serious muscle under his clothes,' _Korra thought as she eyed the black silk clinging around his toned biceps. _'He's probably pretty strong, so I'll have to be careful about letting him get too close. He doesn't look overly-bulky either, so he probably isn't too slow. I'm probably still better at hand-to-hand, but I should definitely be careful.' _

Naruto, meanwhile, was thinking about a few tactics of his own.

'_From what Tenzin told me before, she's going to be rather aggressive. I should probably try to get her flustered if I can so she makes mistakes,' _he thought with a smirk at remembering how he had been susceptible to the same thing in the past. _'She's probably all formal bending to boot, so I probably won't have to worry about her dodging as skillfully as Pro-Benders do. Fast and constant strikes will definitely be a nightmare for her to dodge while trying to throw out any sort of offense.'_

Their thoughts only ceased as they walked down the pavilion that the elders stopped upon and took separate sides on platform that had a giant, detailed image of the White Lotus symbol upon it.

"The rules are as follows: Firebending and hand-to-hand combat only. Avoid any intentional blows to the face. You will stop immediately if your opponent concedes, they are knocked out of the ring, or I order you to do so. Do you both understand and accept the rules as I have described them?"

"Yes," the two teens chorused, having both heard the exact same guidelines countless times in the past.

"Very well, you may begin when you're ready," Lee stated as silence then reigned in the compound for a few moments. As it was still early, many members of the White Lotus that lived in the compound were still asleep, so it was really just them for the time being.

"Alright buddy, time to get down," Naruto finally stated as he reached up and took the fox kit off of his head before placing him on the ground. After a moment, Kurama yipped before running off towards the pavilion.

"You know, I have to admit that I'm surprised," the blond continued with a glance to his opponent as he returned to his previous position and stretched out a few muscles. "Younger women usually go nuts when they see Kurama before trying to hug him to death."

"Heh, I'm not exactly your average woman," Korra shot back with a smirk. "Did you expect me to squeal over how cute he was or something?" She continued, blatantly ignoring the fact that she had resisted the urge to do exactly what he mentioned only due to her eagerness for the upcoming match.

"Yes, actually," Naruto admitted with a chuckle as he shook his arms to continue warming up his muscles. "I guess you're just a special snowflake," he continued with a wide grin. "Get it…because we're in the South Pole?"

"Oh dear spirits," Katara suddenly stated from the sidelines despite her smile as she placed a wrinkled palm on her forehead as memories of her brother's…_unique _sense of humor came to the forefront of her mind.

"…That was such a bad joke," Korra stated after with a shake of her head despite the smile that grew on her face at the bad play on words. "Come on, let's fight already."

"Oh fine," the blond stated with a sigh as he cracked his neck and slowly slipped into a traditional Firebending stance. "You're no fun."

"I'm plenty of fun," the Avatar defended as she slipped into a stance of her own. "Here, let me show you!"

Suddenly, she swung her fists forward in a flurry of punches – each one causing a small fireball to head towards her target. However, to her chagrin, Naruto had merely held his position and hit each fireball with the open palm of one of his hands. Upon contact, the fireball would appear to have hit successfully, but it would merely expand in a brief burst of flame before fizzling out.

"I've sparred Elite Firebenders of the Fire Nation more times than I could hope to count, Korra," he stated upon noticing her staring at him with a small amount of surprise. "Oftentimes now, I spar more than five of them at once. You're going to have to do a bit more than simply throwing a bunch of fire at me if you want to land a solid hit."

The teenage girl's shocked expression then turned into a somewhat wicked-looking grin as she stared upon the blond in front of her.

'_Looks like I finally have someone that can keep up a little,' _she thought as she remembered the time she sparred numerous other past students of her Firebending Master. _'Fine, time to get serious!' _

Suddenly, Korra began sprinting forward. After a moment, she jumped into the air as she performed a front flip while she extended her right leg. The result was a sizable wave of fire that shot towards the blond.

'_Impressive power, but you made far too obvious that this was going to be your move,' _the blond thought with a silent chuckle. He responded by extending his hands forward and pressing the tips of his fingers together. The wedge-like shape that his hands made was then pointed towards the wave of flame that came over his body. This effectively split the wave in half around him.

"That's a bit better," he stated calmly as the fire seemingly had no visible effect on his body other than a small amount of steam that rolled off of his clothes. "It was far too predictable with how you threw your entire body into the move though."

At this, Korra's eyebrow ticked at the critique she was receiving. After all, despite acknowledging that her opponent was probably quite skilled, he had yet to prove himself to be better or even throw any bending towards her in retaliation.

"Fine," she stated in a slightly annoyed tone upon noticing that she was rather close to him. "Then let me show you something even better!" At the end of her statement, a stream of flame shot forth from her mouth, just sizable enough to be able to reach him.

'_Much better!' _Naruto thought excitedly as he took in a deep breath and his eyes widened marginally. Feeling a familiar burning sensation rising from his lungs and moving into his throat, he opened his jaw and released the built up flame in a style similar to what Korra had just done. However, there was two substantial differences between the two.

First of all, the quantity of fire he exhaled was _far_ greater than Korra had done a moment beforehand.

Secondly, and what caught much more attention than the sheer amount of fire, was the fact that his flames were blue - a blue so light in color that it could easily be mistaken for white in some places.

Even as Korra quickly threw herself to the ground spryly on all fours and lowered herself as much as possible, the wave of blue flames overrode her own puny quantity in comparison and raced over the top of her.

* * *

><p>"Beautiful as they ever were…" Lee muttered as his eyes wandered over the flames that his old student had created.<p>

"He wields blue fire?!" One of the White Lotus guards whispered harshly as he turned towards the elderly Firebending Master. "Why didn't you warn us about this?"

"I didn't feel that it was something that you needed to be warned about in advance," he stated calmly as he looked towards the others. "I was obviously correct in my assessment, since Katara was undoubtedly aware of this as well."

"It's true," she admitted as she stared at the blue flames that were just now fizzling out. "Zuko wrote to me a lot back then about how he discovered a boy who wielded blue fire like Azula did. However, while blue flames burn more intensely than their counterparts, I'm convinced that Naruto wouldn't harm Korra intentionally in any way. There is no need to be concerned."

"But the Avatar's safety is at risk here," the other man whispered. "This could be too dangerous for her to handle."

"It is the duty of the Avatar to overcome any obstacle they may face," Lee stated firmly as he gazed at the other two men and the White Lotus woman who had yet to make her opinion known. "Dealing with a friendly spar when the opponent wields blue fire could very well be the least of her problems in the future. We have the best healer in the world here in case Korra is hurt in any way. This will also be a good learning experience for her since she has rarely found any obstacles she struggles to overcome. I must insist that this be allowed to continue."

"…I'm inclined to agree with Master Lee and Master Katara," the final, female member of the White Lotus group stated after a lengthy pause. "The young man doesn't strike me as the type of person to intentionally hurt her short of what a spar permits, and this will likely be a good learning experience as Master Lee has stated. While it is our duty to protect the Avatar, we must not coddle her either. We have permitted other less trustworthy nobles to visit and spar with her for this purpose, and I do not believe that this should be an exception."

The two men of the White Lotus looked a bit disgruntled at the idea of the match continuing, but turned their eyes back to the battle regardless of that fact.

* * *

><p>Korra, still in shock at what she had seen, merely turned her gaze up to the blond in front of her after the flames seemed to fizzle out and the intense heat that had been traveling above her died out.<p>

'_Blue fire,' _the Avatar thought in momentary awe. _'That was way too close,' _she continued as she distinctly felt sweat drop down her neck despite being in the South Pole.

"Now _that's_ what I'm talking about!" Naruto exclaimed happily as he interrupted the teen's thoughts, his voice not sounding the least bit altered despite the flames he had just spewed from his throat. "Unpredictable, powerful, and rather quick to boot – nicely done! You've definitely turned the heat up a notch."

An eerie silence then reigned over the clearing, the only sound being a fleshy slap from one of the elders in the pavilion that face-palmed.

"Get it, because we're Firebending?" The blond finally elaborated with a laugh. "Man, I'm on _fire_ today!"

Another fleshy slap from the pavilion echoed over the clearing, though the sound of Katara letting out a small laugh could also be heard.

"…You are _really_ bad at making jokes," the Water Tribe girl responded seriously as she cautiously stood and reassumed her stance.

"Hey, my sense of humor is awesome!" Naruto defended vehemently before he shook his head with a sigh and slipped into a basic stance again. "That aside, I guess we should be back to it."

Nodding, Korra took in a calming breath through her nose as she shut her eyes momentarily before opening them again – revealing a slightly calmer and more collected look than what she had possessed beforehand.

Suddenly, however, the blond smiled and changed his formal-looking stance into something akin to a boxing stance as he bounced on the balls of his feet. After a moment, he swung out a quick jab with each hand, sending a small blast blue fire towards the Avatar's chest.

Though the speed at which her opponent had sent the fireballs towards her was quicker than initially expected, Korra quickly countered merely pushing herself to the right to avoid them. They had been too fast to give her a chance to counter with any Firebending of her own, so it was her instinctive reaction to merely dodge instead.

However, even as her eyes locked onto Naruto once again, he was in the middle of another set of brief swings that sent flames towards her – two more quick jabs and a slim wave of flame that was created by kicking his foot up and bringing it back down.

Korra let out a slightly audible growl as she dodged once again, pushing herself back a bit as she did so to give her some space to counter his quick moves if she needed to. As she did, she extended her right foot and swung it in a semi-circle along the platform floor, sending a horizontal wave of flame towards the blond's feet.

Having seen what was coming, Naruto merely hopped over said flames and performed a spinning kick while in mid-air – the motion of which sent another wave of flame towards the Avatar's chest.

Letting her brow furrow, Korra retaliated by quickly shoving both of her fists forward – shooting another large wave of fire towards the blond that overwhelmed the small wave he had sent and continued forward to where he would land.

However, to her chagrin, the moment the blond's feet even so much as _grazed_ the ground, he spun his body out of the way of her blast of flame. Even this proved to be a motion that wasn't completely wasted, as when he spun back to face her his fist shot out and threw a sizable blast of blue flame towards her that was quickly followed with several more.

'_This is fucking ridiculous,' _the Water Tribe teenager thought in a moment of frustration as she continued to dodge and counter the blasts for several minutes afterwards in a never-ending string of back-and-forth. _'He isn't actually giving me a chance to go completely on the attack. He just dodges my bending like it's nothing. The only way I'm going to actually have a chance to hit him is to get in close again and try to beat him there.' _

'_Hmm, looks like she might finally be thinking of a plan,' _the blond thought in the meantime as he let a smirk rest on his face as he thoughtlessly threw his flames around like a Pro-Bender would. He was leaving out the more complicated maneuvers he knew for the time being, merely interested in pushing the teen into showing what she knew rather than trying to win the spar. _'Well then, let's see what you've thought of to beat me, Korra." _

Suddenly, amidst the dodging she had done previously, Korra used her arms to block some of the small bursts of flames he had thrown – her armor steaming a fair amount after protecting her from the flames. With an audible grunt, she jumped into the air and unleashed two kicks of flame towards the blond.

Without a thought, of course, Naruto swirled out of the way of them just as he had done several others before noting that she was now running towards him with a rather intense expression on her face. Opening his hand, he spun around completely and unleashed a small torrent of his blue flames from his palm towards her.

Korra, however, merely charged through them after putting her hands in a wedge-shape and moving forward. After emerging with nearly her entire body now having steam rolling off of it, she continued forward with a rather predictable haymaker from her right arm.

Smirking a bit wider at the show of aggression, the blond merely ducked and let the blow pass over his head. However, as she and took in a deep breath and attempted to draw her arms back in what was obviously supposed to be a powerful Firebending maneuver, he quickly extended his arms and locked up her hands with his own before she could actually go through with it from point-blank range.

"You're rather reckless, you know that?" Naruto questioned with a bit of strain in his voice as the two quickly found themselves engaged in a brief test of raw strength while pushing against one another. "Throwing a lot of fire at that range would've backlashed and hit you too."

"Why…does…everyone say…that I lack…restraint!?" Korra grunted from between her teeth in momentary shock as she exerted her full effort to overpower the blond in front of her with raw strength. From up close, the sweat running down her brow was quite evident to anyone who would bother to look.

"Because you risk hurting yourself…just to win a spar," the blond responded while letting out a grunt of effort. After a moment, his smirk from before returned even as the exertion on his body was still evident by how his brow furrowed slightly. "Still, I can respect that!" He stated loudly as he pushed forward a bit harder, slowly pushing the Avatar back as she tried to push against him even harder.

Suddenly, while still pushing heavily against her blond opponent, Korra found Naruto's hands ripped out of her own. Immediately afterwards, she felt herself stumbling forward as the heavy resistance that she had been pushing against suddenly vanished. Even as her eyes widened and she stumbled slightly from being put off-balance, the blond quickly bent down and swept at her legs, causing her to face-plant onto the ground beneath her with a solid _thud_.

"That's enough," came the call from Master Lee who was still in the pavilion. "Naruto is the winner."

'_I can't believe this,' _the teenager on the ground thought as she kept her head facing the ground beneath her. _'He beat me with such a simple trick! What in the Hell Korra, you're better than this!' _she continued as she lifted her neck up a bit only to allow her helmeted face to fall again and impact the ground a few times.

"You should think about incorporating your Waterbending movements into how you evade until you learn a bit of Airbending," a voice offered from the side – prompting her to turn her head enough to see the blond who was now squatting next to her. "You'd save a lot of otherwise wasted movement that way. Aside from that and being too aggressive for your own good, you're quite skilled. It was a good spar," he finished with a warm smile towards her.

"Thanks," Korra responded after a few moments before giving a small sigh. "I guess I can work on it since it'll be a while before I work on Airbending," she continued before she pushed herself up to her feet.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked as he stood upright with her and his head cocked slightly to the side. "Fire should've been the last element you mastered before Air, right?"

"Yeah, but Master Lee said that I'd have to beat you before I mastered Firebending," the young Avatar responded somewhat dejectedly. "I didn't actually expect you to be so much better than the other guys he had me fight before."

"Ah, I see he's still a fan of that old trick of his," Naruto responded with a chuckle. Upon noting his fellow teen's questioning look, he decided to elaborate as they walked back towards the pavilion where the elders were waiting. "He once told me that I'd have to beat ten Elite Firebenders at once before he would say that I mastered Firebending."

"T-ten Elite Firebenders?!" Korra asked in momentary shock, knowing that people belonging to that particular group had exceptional mastery of Firebending aside from a select few others such as the Fire Lord. She could probably take two or three at once with strictly her own Firebending skills, but the idea of taking on ten at once seemed absolutely crazy even for her.

"Mmhmm. He apparently always sets some stupidly difficult task before _he_ will say you're a master, though many others would still say you've earned the title." Naruto stated as he clapped her shoulder and turned to the elders they had walked towards. "Isn't that right, Master Lee?"

Said man, to his credit, managed to keep a straight face for several moments before a small upturn at the edges ruined his image.

"I suppose that's true, _Master_ Naruto," he responded with a slightly larger smile as Korra turned towards the blond with a dropped jaw.

"You…you actually beat ten Elite Firebenders at once?!"

"Yes, yes I did," the blond chirped with a reminiscent smile as he squatted down to pick up Kurama from the pavilion floor. "I don't ever intend to do something like it again if I can help it, but it was a good challenge at the time." As he finished, he moved the fox up to his scalp where he spun around a few times before laying down over his spiky locks once more.

"To answer the question I have a hunch that you'll undoubtedly ask me," he continued after a moment as he turned towards Lee. "The sole fact that she can use Dragon's Breath****** should tell you all that you need to know. I think she's more than ready to move on. The only large problems I saw was that she seemed overly aggressive, or lacked restraint as it were, and needed to incorporate the other elements into her movements. These are things that would likely be best taught while she learns Airbending.

"Are you so certain she is ready to move on? She didn't appear to do so well during the spar," Lee asked somewhat sadistically as he found himself thoroughly enjoying the sight of various emotions flickering across Korra's face.

"Oh please, you know as well as I do that if it would have been nearly anyone else in that ring instead of me that Korra would have likely won easily. She is ready to move on and master the rest of Firebending on her own time," Naruto claimed as reached a hand up and scratched the fox behind one of its ears absent-mindedly.

"So…" Korra asked eagerly from the side, her body language allowing anyone to spot the obvious enthusiasm from a mile away.

"I believe that she is ready," Katara stated softly from the side as she looked at the two teenagers in front of her. "If there is anyone who can teach her what she needs to learn, _especially_ about the spiritual side of being the Avatar which she still needs to learn, it's Tenzin."

"I suppose I believe she is ready as well," Lee stated with a small smile tugging at his lips. "I have known fantastic Firebenders that would have been blasted out of the ring in moments against Naruto even with him holding back a fair amount. To have managed to fight against him for a few minutes, even if it was mostly just dodging and countering, is certainly commendable."

"I believe we're inclined to agree after that display," the most outspoken of the White Lotus members stated after glancing at his comrades. "Very well then. It is time to begin your Airbending training, Korra."

"YES! FINALLY!" Korra shouted while jumping up into the air. After she landed and noted the deadpan expressions that were directed at her, however, she 'gracefully' schooled her expression and let out a fake cough into her hand.

"I mean, thank you all for believing in me," she stated with a traditional bow before slowly turning with a wide grin and running to a different part of the compound – her day having been made with the news of finally being trained in the one element she had yet to even access properly.

"Well," Naruto began as he watched the teenager run off with a smile on his face, "she was certainly just as lively as everyone told me she would be."

"Yes," Lee stated with a chuckle soft chuckle now that his student had left the area. "'Lively' is certainly a good word to describe her most of the time."

"That's certainly true," Katara stated from off to the side with a somewhat wistful smile on her lips as she stared at the blond. "Then again, I imagine you could relate to that rather well."

"Ah…haha, maybe a little," Naruto admitted somewhat sheepishly as he scratched his cheek and averted his gaze off to the side. He kept it there for a few moments before he gave a long sigh and redirected his gaze back towards the woman.

"Fitting descriptions of my personal life aside, however, I have some business I need to get out of the way with Chief Tonraq while I'm here. If it isn't too much trouble, might I be able to have an audience with him before we move onto more pleasant topics of conversation?"

Upon seeing his quick shift in seriousness, the elders, sans Lee, let their eyebrows raise a few inches upon their faces as they stared at the teen.

"…Zuko certainly wasn't exaggerating when he said you were a lot like Sokka; making terrible jokes one moment, and diving head-first into politics the next," Katara commented with a small smile tugging at her lips again at the comparison of the two.

In response, the blond's lips twitched upwards into a small smile of his own.

"It is an honor to be compared to one of my personal heroes," he stated with a slight bow as he struggled rather obviously in keeping his facial expression relatively neutral.

"At least he isn't around to hear you say something like that," the aged Waterbending Master stated with a soft laugh. "He would've let that go to his head and ego rather quickly. However, I suppose I shouldn't delay you any longer with my rambling. Come, I'll escort you to see Tonraq myself."

* * *

><p><strong>(Several Minutes Later)<strong>

"So, is this your first time in the South Pole?" Katara's aged voice questioned softly as she walked along the sculpted path to Tonraq's hut alongside the blond Firebender.

"Ah, it is indeed," he responded with a curt nod. "I've always wondered about what it was like here, but I never had a good opportunity to visit before now."

"Really? I would have presumed Zuko would make that a priority for you to get out and experience the world a bit before becoming the Councilman in Republic City."

"I brought up the very same thing around two years ago before I moved, actually," Naruto responded with a chuckle. "Though I was eager to go back there to see my friends again, I thought I'd need more experience before becoming a politician for the entire country. In response though, he and Fire Lord Izumi made me sit down to drink tea with them and tried to explain that it would be more efficient if I studied under their current Councilwoman for a few months instead of traveling the world. In hindsight though, they seemed to say that in as round-a-bout manner as possible."

"Ah, so they Iroh'd you then?"

"Yes, I suppose they did," the blond stated in return with another chuckle. "Zuko was…_is_ rather fond of using that particular method to try to teach some big lesson to me, and it seems his daughter picked up the habit as well. It was only when Lady Mai******* sat me down and explained it that I learned it was also his Uncle's favorite way of teaching him."

"Oh, it truly was from what I understand," the Waterbending Master said softly with a wide smile on her face. "Iroh and Aang would sit and chat for hours…on what few occasions they had free time together, that is."

"Yes, from what I've heard of both of them, it seemed like the two would get along famously."

"Oh my, yes. In fact, though many people don't know this, I think Aang got along better with Iroh more than even Sokka, Toph, or Zuko. They were always so like-minded, especially when it came to the problems of the world."

"That isn't so surprising, all things considered," the blond stated thoughtfully. "Zuko _did_ always say that Aang wasn't his favorite amongst your group even if they did get along famously…"

"…Oh?" Katara asked with a raised eyebrow as she turned her gaze towards the teen. "Who was it then?"

"I wonder…" Naruto responded while turning to meet her gaze with a sly smile on his lips.

A few moments passed where their gazes lingered on one another before Katara let out a laugh from deep within her belly as they approached their intended destination.

"Oh yes, I can certainly see why Zuko and Tenzin praise you as a Councilman. You give me just enough to bait me in to the conversation and then leave me wanting more. Quite skillful, young man. Quite skillful indeed."

"Ah, perhaps I'm not quite as skilled as you praise if you caught me so easily," the blond offered in return.

"When you get to be my age, it's a bit easier to pick up on such things," the aged woman responded kindly. "For one so young, I can tell that you hold incredible potential."

"YESYESYESYESYESYES!" A voice rung out from the igloo the two bending masters were approaching. The voice, while partially muffled, was distinctly female and could belong to none other than the Avatar herself.

"Well…someone's excited."

"Korra has always been particularly excitable about anything relating to Airbending. Seeing as she tapped into the other three elements incredibly easily, I'm sure you could understand why that is."

Before the blond had time to respond, a Water Tribe woman standing a bit over five feet tall came out of the front of the igloo with her eyes closed while lightly rubbing her temples. After a few moments, she opened her eyes only for her face to light up in surprise at the sight in front of her.

"Katara!" She greeted warmly as she quickly walked forward and embraced the elderly woman in a hug. After pulling away, she shot her gaze to Naruto for a moment before returning it to the Waterbending Master. "Not that I mind, but what are you doing all the way out here?"

"It's good to see you too, Senna," Katara greeted kindly. "This," she began with a wave towards him, "is Councilman Naruto from Republic City. I'm sure Korra has no doubt filled you in on what happened earlier?"

"Ah, yes, she's…celebrating," the woman stated with a soft smile as echoes of Korra's muffled voice came from inside the hut. "You'll have to forgive my daughter, she can be a bit…rough in her spars from what I understand."

"It's quite alright ma'am, I've dealt with far worse in my time," the blond responded with a soft smile of his own.

_Yipp_

"Yeah, yeah, I'm getting to you," Naruto stated with a slight huff as Senna's eyes darted up to his hair and her smile grew wider at the sight. After a moment, he reached up and took the creature from his scalp and cradled it in his arms.

"_This _little demon is Kurama, and he can get rather upset when not properly introduced," he continued as he pushed his arms away from his body to hold the fox out towards the Water Tribe woman.

"Well aren't you a little _cutie_," Senna cooed as she placed both hands on the creature's cheeks before rubbing its head affectionately.

"You can hold him, if you'd like?"

Without any hesitation, the small fox was nearly torn from his hands as Korra's mother swept the creature into her own arms and continued to coo at him as one might a new born baby.

"…I take it this happens often?"

"Far, _far_ more often than I would like to admit," the blond responded to Katara with a chuckle. "That's why I was actually surprised when Korra didn't do the same thing."

"I see," the Waterbending Master stated with an amused smile.

"She'll probably be distracted for quite some time if the normal reactions are anything to go off of," Naruto stated after a moment's pause.

"You're probably right. Let's head on inside, I imagine you're at least a little cold by now in those clothes."

"Not at all, actually," Naruto responded as they moved into the igloo without knocking or any other signal to their entry. "I've been told that my body burns at a slightly hotter temperature than most, and these clothes actually cover me pretty well."

Katara merely glanced at him for a moment before quickly averting her gaze and shaking her head with a slight huff. "Firebenders and their body temperature…"

By now, thankfully, the sounds of Korra yelling enthusiastically had come to a halt. However, it also meant that the brief conversation between the two bending masters was easily overheard.

"Katara, is that you I hear?" A masculine voice called out from the next room over in the large igloo before its owner strode inside of the main living quarters.

The man was tall, standing at eye-level with Naruto himself. Wearing traditional Water Tribe robes and with traditional darkened skin, the man also had a rather broad frame. His dark hair was pulled back into a simple pony tail for the moment, and his eyes immediately fell onto the blond male in the room as soon as he registered the foreign presence.

"Tonraq," Katara greeted warmly while also putting a name to the man's appearance. "It's nice to see you again after so long," she continued as she walked forward before quickly being pulled into a hug.

"Just as it is you, Katara," he replied kindly before his eyes honed in on the other man in the room. "However, it seems you've brought me a visitor."

"I have," she confirmed with a curt nod before gesturing towards the blond. "This is Councilman Naruto from Republic City."

At this, the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe merely raised his brows in a moment of genuine astonishment as his mouth hung slightly agape for a moment before he quickly closed it back up.

"My apologies, Councilman," he finally stated after clearing his face of his evident surprise. "I just…I'd heard about your age, but I didn't honestly expect someone so young…"

"Please, don't bother with my titles Chief Tonraq," the blond stated casually while still maintaining the serious expression upon his face. "As for my age, I get that sort of reaction at _least_ once a week, so there's no harm done."

"Very well…Naruto, was it? I assume since you had Katara escort you here that you're here to speak to me about something?"

"Indeed," the blond confirmed with a nod. "I've been asked by Fire Lord Izumi to negotiate an agreement to allow some Fire Nation vendors to come in for your Glacial Spirits Festival later this year if you aren't completely opposed to the idea."

Upon hearing the initial idea, the Chief's brows rose once again as his eyes widened somewhat comically before he schooled his expression once more.

"I-I'm sure we can work something out," he stated while trying to contain his glee at the prospect of how much money and trading Fire Nation vendors could pull in for the tribe at the festival. "I use this next room over to keep my papers in. If you'd like to step inside, we can talk over things. I imagine this might take quite some time…"

"Unfortunately, I feel you may be right," Naruto stated with a chuckle as he turned towards Katara and bowed. "Thank you for escorting me here, it was greatly appreciated."

"Oh please, it was no trouble at all," Katara responded in a warm tone. "I assume you will at least be staying overnight to rest?"

"Most likely," he responded as he let out a loud breath. "I get the hunch that this will take a while, and Iroh has been has flown from Republic City, to the Fire Nation Palace, and then to the South Pole in the last five days. He needs to rest for at least a day."

"I will ensure there's a room for you at the White Lotus Compound then. It's the very least we can do for you since you came all this way, even if it was for some business of your own."

"Ah, thank you for your hospitality then," he stated before turning back towards the large man in front of him. "Shall we then, Chief Tonraq?"

"After you," the man stated as he brushed aside the hanging skins that helped keep heat in the rooms of the house, ushering him inside before following after him.

* * *

><p><strong>(8 hours later)<strong>

"I hate being a Councilman," Naruto muttered to himself as he strode back towards the White Lotus Compound with Kurama atop his scalp once again. The past long and grueling eight hours had been spent detailing the potential agreement between the Fire Nation and the Southern Water Tribe as had been expected. However, the sheer abundance of details that needed to be hashed out was so tremendous that he and Tonraq had skipped over an entire meal to get the work finished as quickly as possible.

_Yipp_

_Sigh_

"I swear, you're no help sometimes," the blond muttered out again as he reached the gate of the compound. The sun was finally beginning to fall in the sky, painting it a rather beautiful orange – his favorite color – and he had to pause for a moment to take it in. After that though, he promptly moved inside the compound and towards the large housing area that was kept near the back.

"Naruto?" A familiar, excitable voice questioned that caused him to snap back to reality as he was crossing the large stone platform in front of the large, wooden housing unit. As he turned, his eyes immediately locked onto the form of Korra and Katara standing together a fair distance away from a small group of White Lotus guards.

"Hey Korra," he greeted with a slight wave before raising it to his mouth to stifle a yawn. "What's going on?"

"Tenzin and the others are coming, that's what!" She exclaimed happily while Katara smiled wistfully off at her side. "Katara figured I'd pass, so she actually called him here early and he's due any time now! I finally get to start my Airbending training!"

"Tenzin?" The blond questioned with a cocked eyebrow. "Is he supposed to stay here and teach you or something?"

"He is," Katara confirmed from the girl's side with a large smile. "It will be so nice to see my grandchildren for a while again."

'_Strange…I would think Tenzin of all people would be reluctant to leave Republic City right now. I wonder if he plans to bring Korra back with him…' _

"Would you mind if I join you while waiting for them all then? It has been a while since I got to spend some time with the Airbenders."

"Of course you can," Katara answered without hesitation. "I'm sure they will be ecstatic to see you."

"Hey, while we wait, what was that Firebending you did earlier today?" Korra questioned with sincerity after a few moments. "It was so much…_quicker_ than what I was taught."

"Ah, you mean the stance I took where I sort of bounced on my feet?" The blond questioned in return, not actually choosing to take the stance since that would result on an irritated fox atop his head.

Korra merely nodded in return, having directed her attention solely at him for an explanation.

"It's the style that Pro-benders use in Republic City."

"Pro-bending, are you a fan?!" Korra questioned in an even more excited voice than before. "I hear some of the guards talking about it all the time, so I _really_ want to see a match sometime."

'…_They really need to let her out to see things more if she's having to hear about that second-hand.' _

"I suppose you could say that I'm a fan, yes," he admitted with a soft chuckle. "I have a friend in Republic City who was on a Pro-bending team, so he got me into it. Last year, the Firebender who was working with him and another friend of mine quit, so they all but guilt tripped me into playing for their team this year."

"Wait…what?!" Korra questioned excitedly, her interest having been peaked once again. "You're a Pro-Bender on top of everything else?!"

"Yeah," the blond confessed with a bit of a sigh. "It's killing what little personal time I actually had, but it's to help out two of my first friends. I can't exactly just tell them no when they really need something from me, y'know?"

"…Oh, I see," the teen responded with slightly curbed excitement upon hearing his reasoning. "Well, what team do you play for?"

"The Akimichi Fire Shadows."

"The Fire Shadows?" Korra questioned for a moment before her brow rose nearly up into her hairline. "You're the Firebender for the reigning champions?!"

"I am," the blond answered with another smile at her obvious excitement. "I can show you some tips and such about how various bending styles are different sometime, if you'd like?"

"Hell yeah!" Korra exclaimed before a look from Katara had her calming herself down once again.

'_Well, actually…no reason not to start right now,' _the blond thought a mere moment later. "Alright, are you aware with the general rules of the matches?"

"Uh…you try to knock people back spaces, right?" The Avatar asked more than answered.

"In gist, yes, that's the objective," Naruto confirmed with a nod. "There are a few other rules involved, but that isn't particularly important to understand the style. Now, it's a three versus three match-up where you _don't_ want to get knocked back, so what do you think the most important ability that a Pro-Bender has to have is?"

"…Speed?" The Water Tribe teen offered after a few moments of thought.

"Close, and, granted, speed is an important aspect. However, that's not quite right. The most important ability that any Pro-Bender has to have is the ability to dodge. I know that seems a bit too simplified, but if you don't get hit, then you don't get knocked back."

"Alright, I could see that," the teen responded after a brief pause with a nod. "So the styles focus on being able to dodge then?"

"Good deduction," the blond answered. "Yes, as you can probably notice if you think back and look at how I reacted to your attacks, you can see how the stance allowed me to stay light on my feet and move at a moment's notice. _That_ fundamental aspect will remain the same in the Pro-bending arena regardless of what type of bending it is."

"That's…so different than what I was taught," the Avatar responded after a relatively lengthy pause.

"It was quite different than what I had been taught too," Naruto responded after snorting. "However, you'll likely pick it up much quicker than your formal bending training when you get in some practice with it; I know that I certainly did."

There was a comfortable silence that followed after that. Before anyone else chose to make any more small talk, the familiar growl of a Sky Bison reached their ears – causing each of them to smile for their own reasons.

"..ereyet?ArewethereyetArewethereyet?Arewethereyet?" A familiar child-like girl's voice repeated time and time again as the bison finally landed upon the platform.

"Yes, Ikki," a tired man's voice stated as the noise settled. "As I've been saying for the last fifteen minutes, we are, _finally_, here."

"Now Tenzin, you know Ikki's just a bit excitable," Naruto hollered as he looked up to the large saddle. Upon hearing his voice, Ikki and Meelo quickly leapt from their positions on the creature and used Airbending effortlessly to carry themselves over into him – crashing into him in a rather fierce hug for kids so young.

"Big brother, why are you here? Aren't you cold in those clothes? Were you waiting here long? Where's Iroh? Do you always carry a sword with you when you're gone? …_Are you and Korra secretly dating_?"

Letting out a small sigh upon hearing the barrage of questions from the younger daughter of the bald Councilman, he took in a deep breath of air.

"I'm here for a few different reasons, Ikki. No, I'm not cold in these clothes. I was only waiting on you for the past ten or fifteen minutes, as I didn't even know you were supposed to be here today. Iroh's inside their stables resting. I usually carry my sword with me when I'm gone, but not always. Seeing as I just met Korra today, I'm fairly certain we aren't dating," he finished by sticking his tongue out at the girl.

"Now," he continued before prying the small figure clinging to his chest off of him and holding the bald boy at arm's length, "how's my little brother been? Get into any trouble recently?"

"I learned a new move!" he stated with enthusiasm as he grinned widely. "Put me down and let me show you really quick!"

Doing as he asked, Naruto watched as Meelo squatted down and seemed to focus intently…before the sound of a certain bodily function was heard as he blasted off towards his Grandmother rather quickly.

"…Jinora," he stated as he caught sight of the pre-teen girl just now having made her way relatively calmly over to him. "Please tell me that Meelo didn't do what I just think he did."

"Be happy that you weren't around when he first figured it out," the pre-teen muttered softly before catching his eye. "Mom and dad had to talk to him a _lot_ to get him to stop calling it Fartbending."

"Of course they did," the Firebender responded with barely contained mirth as he fought valiantly to keep a rather immature chuckle down. "Anyway," he continued as he squatted down to bring her closer to eye-level once he noticed Ikki had also hovered over to Katara and the others. Fully standing, she came up to about mid-abdomen on him, so his new height worked out nicely. "How's my favorite Airbender been lately?"

"I-I've been well, mostly spending time studying old Airbending scrolls," the young Airbender responded with a slight flush visible on her cheeks.

"Ah, speaking of," the blond began as he snapped open the pouch on his right side and rummaged around in it for a moment before pulling out a scroll. After pulling it open for an inch or two to ensure that it was the correct one, he held it towards the young girl.

"W-what's…?"

"You're still interested in Firebending breathing techniques, yes?"

"W-well…I-I mean, yes," Jinora stuttered for a moment before regaining her composure. "I just saw how much you benefitted from studying ours, so…" she trailed off a bit shyly.

"A little birdy told me as much," he stated with a soft smile towards the girl who obviously had a bit of a crush on him. "You can keep this if you promise to keep it safe, okay? We don't have too many scrolls on techniques written by the Dragon of the West, so we want to keep them in good condition."

"Y-y-you're g-giving me a scroll written by Iroh?!" She shouted before covering her mouth with both hands as her entire face flushed red in embarrassment at her obvious show of excitement.

"A scroll written by Iroh from my personal collection, yes," the blond clarified with a soft laugh despite the eyes of the others that were now lingering on them. "Consider it a bit of an early birthday present, okay?"

Finally reaching forward, the young Airbender cradled the scroll in her arms as she gazed down at it fondly. After a moment, she finally turned her still-flushed face up and nodded.

"T-thank you."

"You're welcome," Naruto responded with a wide grin, unintentionally making the young girl's face flush just a bit more. "Now, we should probably go chat with your parents and see what's going on."

Finally having handled all of the Airbending children one-by-one, the blond strode over to the rest of the group just as Tenzin was helping his wife slide slowly off of the Sky Bison's large tail.

"Careful…careful," the Airbending Master stated as she slid down and finally stood.

"Tenzin, stop dotting on me," the woman huffed out in a slightly annoyed tone. "I'm just pregnant, not some helpless damsel in distress."

She was stopped from continuing, however, as Katara came up and quickly wrapped her up in a gentle hug before placing her hands gently on her enlarged belly.

"The baby is quite strong, I sense another Airbender in the future," the aged Waterbender stated without noticing the suddenly stricken face that Pema made.

"Ouch…sorry Pema," Naruto stated, finally drawing the attention of the woman and her husband entirely towards him.

"All I want is one, _just one _non-bender that doesn't blast wind in my face every five seconds," she said with a sight before shaking her head. "Oh well…"

"It will be alright, dear," Tenzin stated kindly before pecking her on the cheek from the side. "Councilman," he stated as he locked gazes with Naruto, "not that it isn't nice to see you again, but what are you doing here?"

"My official business here is done Tenzin, no need to be so formal," he stated with a chuckle. "To sate your curiosity though, Korra's Firebending instructor brought me in to spar her and I had to propose and formalize an agreement with Chief Tonraq. I honestly didn't even know you were coming here until around ten or so minutes ago."

"I see," the tall man stated as he visibly relaxed at hearing the news, "that's good."

"You need to relax, my friend," Naruto stated with a small smile. "Dealing with the council, managing your children, _and_ helping your pregnant wife has you too stiff."

"…I know, but it's just so difficult to find time to get away…" he trailed off before lifting his head and noting the figure that was lurking a fair distance behind his mother. "Korra?"

The teenager in question quickly walked forward with a grin on her face as she stood before the tall Airbender.

"Look at you," he stated fondly as he quickly ran his eyes up and down her figure, "you've grown into quite the young Avatar."

"Master Tenzin," she greeted formally with a small bow. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see you. I'm so excited to start my Airbending training."

"Yes, well…" the man responded before turning his gaze away sheepishly as he raised a hand and rubbed the back of his neck. Korra obviously caught the gesture and began to look at him and the others somewhat suspiciously.

"You're going to have to tell her sooner or later," Pema offered from her husband's side as she gently rested an arm on the crook of his elbow.

"…You aren't staying," Katara suddenly stated more than asked as she noted the lack of any of their meager belongings.

"No, I'm afraid we're not," the Airbending Master stated with what was obviously a slightly pained face upon hearing his mother's disappointed tone of voice. "We're only staying for the night, then I have to return to Republic City."

"But…I…no," Korra shook her head in confusion. "You're supposed to move here to teach me."

"I'm sorry, Korra, but your Airbending training will have to wait."

'…_No way she's going to let it end with just hearing that,' _the blond thought with an inward sigh as he caught her rather devastated expression. _'I'm calling it right now.' _

* * *

><p><strong>(45 minutes later) <strong>

"So, how long until you're able to start teaching me? A few days, a week, a month?" Korra asked while everyone sat down to eat within the White Lotus Compound.

'_Called it,' _the blond thought with inward applause for his deduction earlier about the issue not being resolved. He was currently seated between Meelo and Jinora – the former stuffing his face while the later was calmly petting Kurama who was curled up comfortably in her lap.

"It honestly may be much longer than that," Tenzin stated at the head of the table after he set his bowl of Water Tribe noodles down.

"I just…I don't understand why you can't start teaching me."

"Korra, I have a responsibility to Republic City, and the situation there is very…_unstable_ right now," he stated with a quick glance towards the blond.

"Yes, but you also have a responsibility to teach _me_ Airbending. Believe me, I'd be happy to try to find another Airbending Master, but you're the only one. We're stuck with one another."

"I understand that, Korra," Tenzin stated with a sigh as he raised his hand and rubbed his brow. "Truly, I understand it and I'm sorry for having to delay this longer, but there's nothing I can do."

"Tenzin, I feel you're overlooking an obvious answer here," Naruto offered from the side. As all attention at the table turned to him, he shrugged his shoulders in a nonchalant fashion before offering the answer. "Why not just bring her to Republic City?"

"That's perfect!" Korra nearly shouted with joy as her eyes lit up.

"Absolutely not!" One of the elder White Lotus members stated as he smacked his hand off of the table. "Republic City is _far _too dangerous. Avatar Aang tasked us with keeping you safe!"

"No, elder," Naruto stated as he narrowed his eyes slightly at the man. "Avatar Aang tasked the White Lotus with helping future Avatars achieve their true potential, something that was certainly understandable given the difficulty he had doing so. By forcefully keeping her here, even though I am aware as to _why_," he caught Tenzin's eye for a moment at that before continuing, "I feel that you are failing in that very task."

Korra sent him an appreciative gaze at that, though the other adults in the room save for Pema and Katara gazed at him rather harshly for hinting at information they still desired to keep hidden.

"I highly doubt Aang would want me locked up here like a prisoner," the Water Tribe teen added on with a quick glance towards Tenzin.

"I know this is difficult to accept," Tenzin began with a sigh as he could already imagine what the reaction to this would be, "but now is not the right time for you to come to Republic City. I'm sorry, Korra, but the answer is no."

"…Fine, whatever," Korra stated shortly afterwards with a frustrated growl as she quickly stood and walked out of the dining room. As the door slammed shut significantly louder than usual, the two elderly men gave out another sigh.

"You are foolish to keep her away from this," Naruto stated with his gaze directed towards the Airbending Master as he slowly pried Kurama away from Jinora and stood up himself.

"I know your views on the matter, but as I said Councilman," he bit out slightly more harshly than he usually would, "she isn't ready."

"Then allow me to leave you on this parting thought, _Councilman_," he stated harshly enough to cause people sitting at the table to wince at his tone. "No one in their right mind would've considered your father ready to face the Fire Lord when he did, but he still accomplished it because it was what the world needed at the time. I'm aware you're trying to protect her until she's prepared for what she's going to face, but keeping the Avatar locked away in a compound for _years_ is _**hardly**_ the way to prepare her for dealing with Republic City or the world in general!"

This was met by silence as Tenzin and the White Lotus elder let their shoulders droop slightly. Even Pema, Katara, and the children, though not the target of the slight venom in his tone, looked slightly chastised. Seeing as no one made a move to say anything in their own defense, he calmly strode out of the room and closed the door softly behind him.

Whether that was more impactful than Korra's slam or not was up for debate

"Well that was…different," Pema stated after a few moments to try to diffuse the tension in the air that was still there despite the blond's departure. "I don't think I'd ever seen Naruto upset before."

"The subject of the Avatar is touchy with him," her husband responded softly after a few moments. "He and the leaders of the Fire Nation are in agreement that we shouldn't have been holding Korra here like we are any longer. Anytime he wants to bring it up in conversation, I usually speak with him privately so you wouldn't have to see…_that_."

"He made some good points though, Dad," Jinora stated somewhat shyly from the side. Though she was admittedly infatuated with the boy, even she could see the validity in the points he made.

"…I know he did, sweetheart," Tenzin whispered just loudly enough for everyone to hear before letting out a loud sigh. "He always does."

* * *

><p><strong>(The Next Morning)<strong>

"Bye Gran Gran!" Ikki shouted a moment before Oogi took off – leaving a waving Katara watching after them as a tear dripped down her cheek alongside a stoic-looking Naruto. He had already given his warm goodbyes to Pema and the children before they left, so he felt no need to say anything further. Tenzin, on the other hand, had received little more than a stiff handshake.

"I take it you're probably leaving soon as well?" Katara asked with a voice still rather thick with emotion after watching her family leave.

"Yeah, probably within the next few minutes," the blond confirmed with a nod of his head. "I'm sorry for the unpleasantness I likely caused last night during dinner, by the way. I feel a bit guilty about ruining what little time with your family you probably get…"

"It's quite alright," the aged woman stated with a sniffle. "Truth be told, I agree with what you said. My husband wouldn't have wanted Korra to be held here. She needs to be out in the world in order to learn what makes the Avatar…well, the Avatar."

"It's good to know that the Fire Nation isn't completely alone in their opinion," Naruto responded after a momentary pause. "Do you happen to know where Korra is, by the way? I was hoping to speak with her before I left."

"Ah, she's probably just outside of the compound on a nearby cliff if I know her as well as I think I do. I'm sure if you fly out that direction that you'll spot her easily enough."

"I see. Well, thank you again for your hospitality, Katara. I greatly appreciate you welcoming me here," he finished with a bow.

"The pleasure was mine, Naruto," she responded with a soft smile.

* * *

><p><strong>(Several Minutes Later)<strong>

"Ready to go buddy?" Naruto asked as he mounted the saddle on his dragon before reaching forward and scratching the scales above its brow. Kurama, as per the usual, was resting upon his scalp.

A loud gust of air coming out of Iroh's nostrils and a slight flap of its wings was the response he received.

"Alright, well it's going to be a short flight at first. After that, it'll be a long haul and you'll get to stretch your wings again. Let's go!"

At his behest, Iroh's wings spread out and flapped mightily causing several White Lotus members in the immediate area having to crouch low to the ground in order to keep themselves from being knocked over.

As the black dragon lifted off of the ground, Naruto let his gaze drift over the nearby landscape. After a few moments of searching, he found his intended target.

"Over there, Iroh," he hollered over the sound of his flapping wings. "Land us next to the Avatar!"

A few moments and one shocked expression on Korra's face later, and the blond was looking down at the teenage girl from atop his saddle as her eyes were locked onto the dragon in front of her.

"Hello again, Korra," he greeted kindly as her eyes drifted to him for a brief moment before going back to the dragon that was, at most, a foot away from her face.

"H-Hey," she greeted in return as he hand hesitantly rose. "Would you mind if I…?"

"Not my call, you'll have to ask Iroh here," he shot back in amusement as he pat the creature on the brow again.

As the Water Tribe teen nodded, she turned her gaze into the dragon's eyes. After holding contact for a few moments, Iroh's head bowed down towards her. As it did, Korra reached her hand forward and touched his snout before slowly rubbing along it a few times.

"It would seem that he likes you."

A warm smile was the only response he received for a moment before the teen finally tore her gaze from the beautiful creature.

"I'll be blunt with you, Korra," he stated after taking a few moments to gather his thoughts. "Tenzin wasn't lying when he said that Republic City is unstable. However, unlike him, I think that we'll need your help to settle things down."

At this, the girl's brow furrowed.

"What do you mean? No one really tells me much of anything that's going on there."

"There's a new group in the city that call themselves the Equalists," Naruto stated with a sigh at the very thought of the frustration the group has been bringing up. "To keep it short and sweet, they're a group of people who believe that benders are oppressing non-benders in everyday life and want it to be made illegal outside of certain circumstances."

"But that's…that's…" Korra began.

"It sound ridiculous, I know," the blond finished for her with a soft chuckle. "However, a lot of the crime in Republic City is done by benders. People who suffered under them then become rather prejudiced against the art itself regardless of the fact that it is neither innately good nor evil. They've been gaining a lot of support lately, so the United Republic Council is trying to do what we can to prevent a civil war from breaking out. That's why Tenzin couldn't move down here just yet."

"Oh," the teen stated softly in response before she gave out a long sigh. "I guess that makes sense. Still though, why didn't he just tell me that?"

"While I don't know for certain, I presume he merely wants to protect you."

"Of course he does," the brunette huffed. "What about you then?" Korra questioned after a brief pause.

"As I said, _I_ think that we need your help to ultimately resolve the issue. As the only person in the world that can manipulate all four elements at once, you could easily be classified as the 'ultimate' or 'most powerful' bender in the world. I think if the people of Republic City saw the Avatar standing up for them once again that this nonsense about benders subjugating normal citizens would be easily resolved."

"I…I see," Korra responded with a somewhat solemn expression on her face.

"That being said, I also wanted to stop and chat with you because I heard that there just so happens to be a Republic City supply ship leaving port here tonight. I was interested in a rumor I overheard about the cargo bays in them being rather roomy, but I don't suppose you would know about that sort of thing off-hand, would you?"

After a momentary pause to likely ponder why he would ask her such a random question, the Avatar's eyes widened marginally for several moments in realization before she attempted to school her expression.

"I wouldn't know, I've never been in one," she responded slowly while her mind was wondering whether or not to take the risk.

"Ah, a shame then," Naruto stated in what was obviously false disappointment. "I'm told that the South Pole has pretty lax security around their ships at night, so I had thought you might have been in one before."

"Sorry to disappoint," the Avatar replied in a monotone as her mind was obviously elsewhere.

"Don't worry, it's no big deal," the Firebender replied as he waved a hand in front of his face as if to dismiss the apology. "I'll leave you be though, as I can see you have something you're working through. I hope to see you in Republic City sometime soon though, Korra."

"Yeah…" Korra stated thoughtlessly again for a moment before she shook her head and she drifted back to reality. "Yeah, I hope to see you there too."

_Yipp_

"It seems Kurama is of the same opinion. Until then…" Naruto stated with a smile before giving nod of his head towards the girl. "Let's go, Iroh."

Running forward and diving off the cliff without further prompting, Iroh's wings quickly caught the air and drifted them home towards Republic City.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Post-Chapter Notes<strong>  
><span>

***Korra's Firebending instructor, as far as I know, is never name. As "there are a million Lee's," I found this to be a fitting name for him. **

****According to the wiki, there's no official name for a Firebender's ability to breathe out fire. However, seeing as Firebending has always been so heavily tied to dragons, I decided to have the ability named after them in this. **

*****Zuko's wife isn't seemingly confirmed in canon, but I'm making it Mai here. It works well enough. **

**As a general note for how the United Republic Council works here, each nation is permitted to elect its representative to the city. The member can then, if they choose to, be solely responsible for their councilman/woman duties or function as an ambassador to their nation at large. The city then holds an election to choose a single, non-partial representative in order to ensure that there are no tied votes. **


	2. Home Sweet Home

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Legend of Korra. This is purely a piece of fiction that is being made without profit.**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Author's Notes<strong>

**A quick note here to mention a few things. First of all, thank you for all of the support and feedback so far, I appreciate it. Secondly, this chapter is significantly shorter than Chapter 1. I'm kind of playing around with Chapter size to see what I like better, so this may become the new norm or I may go back to the old chapter length. We'll see. **

**An early Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to everyone in advance. Don't expect another chapter until New Years is over at the very earliest.**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Naruto: Dragon of the East<strong>

**Chapter 2: Home Sweet Home**

* * *

><p><strong>(3 Days Later)<strong>

_Beep beep beep be- _

The loud and annoying alarm came to an abrupt halt when a hand slapped down upon it fiercely. Shortly afterwards, a pair of cerulean blue eyes cracked open to stare towards the few rays of light making their way through the dark curtain at the side of the large room.

Slowly pushing himself up into a sitting position, Naruto's shirtless form could be seen with his eyes still half-lidded as he ran a hand down his face. His toned arms, pectorals, and abdomen were all exposed for the world to see along with a thin trail of blond hair that traveled from the bottom of his navel down and disappeared under the waistband of his loose orange pants. Along his right arm, traveling up from his wrist to the back of his right shoulder-blade, was a rather prominent-looking scar. Though an unknown term to most, many experts who worked with electricity or lightning regularly would be able to identify the shape as a Lichtenberg figure.

"Waking up sucks," Naruto mumbled a bit groggily as he rolled his shoulders and groaned softly as one of them audibly popped.

All things considered, judging by his sleeping arrangements alone, he lived in at least mild luxury. He was currently laying on a bed that was easily large enough to hold three or four people with sheets and blankets of such fine quality that they would make the majority of Republic City's citizens green with envy.

The room he was in, despite the fact that it was incredibly spacious, seemed to be rather Spartan. There was a finely engraved nightstand at either side of the large bed and a medium-sized, engraved dresser tucked away on the left side of the room. Aside from that, the only things decorating the room were the curtains over the window and the lush black carpeting on the floor.

Having drifted off to think about how awful mornings were at times, the blond snapped back to reality as a soft growl was emitted from his right side. Turning his head over, a smile crept over his lips as the sight of Kurama curled up into a tight ball and growling softly in his sleep.

"Come on little buddy," he stated as he reached over and ruffled the fox's head with enough force to wake it up. "If I have to get up and start the day, then you do too."

After pulling his hand away quickly from a half-hearted snap at his fingers, Naruto simply laughed as he rolled out of bed and got up on his feet. After running through a few simple stretches, he walked over to his dresser and pulled out some fresh shirt and pants for the day seeing as he likely wouldn't be able to get away with wearing _just _a pair of loose-fit pajama pants in public.

…Well, he probably _could _if those sexually inclined towards the male gender had a say in it, but he'd certainly rather not.

Stepping out of the large bedroom, he stepped into the hallway and into the main living area of his home. A large, comfortable-looking, L-shaped brown couch sat with one end tucked against the wall with a lengthy coffee table in front of it. On the other sides of said table were two padded chairs that matched the color of the couch. All of this sat atop the same black carpeting that was within his bedroom.

Passing this for the time being, he turned into another room thoughtlessly and winced slightly as he flipped on the light to the bathroom. Black tile replaced the black carpeting that had been running along the floor of the previous rooms – a fact that he could testify to when his feet first touched the much colder surface.

'_Alright,' _Naruto thought to himself as he slapped himself lightly on the cheeks. _'Shower, meet with the secretary, a bit more paperwork, and then hopefully I'll have time to relax. Maybe today won't be so crazy…' _

Suddenly, the loud blare of a Metalbending airship's siren flying overhead made him close his eyes and release a sigh.

Kurama, who had strode in only a few moments after he did, took this opportune moment to bark at the passing noise in what was seemingly annoyance.

"Yeah, I didn't really think so either buddy. That'd be too much to ask for."

* * *

><p><strong>(Several Hours Later)<strong>

Flying in the air above Republic City, albeit relatively slowly in order to avoid any Metalbender airships that were on patrol, was Iroh with Naruto upon his back once again. Kurama was currently curled into a ball in his lap, though the possibility of sleep was nearly impossible with as much noise was being made in the city streets during prime business hours.

After leaving his home, Naruto had spent the next few hours at the Fire Nation embassy where he functioned as an ambassador between the Fire Nation and Republic City – one of his primary responsibilities aside from simply attending United Republic Council meetings. Upon finishing up with a large stack relatively monotonous paperwork that had built up over his week-long absence, most of which revolved around people requesting meetings with him or another representative of the Fire Nation, he had left the embassy with a slim folder to go to a meeting that had finally been approved while he was away.

The meeting was something that Naruto had been requesting at regular intervals mere weeks after the day he had been appointed to be the Fire Nation Councilman. However, given the fact that it was with none other than the brilliant Hiroshi Sato, it was understandable that there would be a waiting period. Having long-since read the contents of the folder he currently held, the blond ambassador couldn't exactly fault the man for shunning his requests time and time again.

Why he had finally acquiesced to the request _now_ of all times…well that was something he was genuinely confounded about.

Therefore, it was an understandable amount of trepidation that he had Iroh land in a large area that had been separated off from the rest of the city with a large and heavily secured gate. A large, almost castle-like building stood several stories tall with several hundreds of acres around it dedicated to various warehouses, tracks, and other structures that were likely used regularly for company purposes.

Coming to a halt, the blond immediately spotted the famous inventor in between four men that held themselves at attention. Truth be told, despite their non-intimidating size, they couldn't have possibly passed for anything other than bodyguards, mercenaries, or soldiers. Then again, seeing as Naruto had wanted the additional security of the Jian strapped at his hip for this particular meeting himself, he couldn't exactly fault Sato for wanting a bit of extra security as well.

After giving Iroh a scratch above his brow and pulling Kurama off of his lap, the blond Firebender hopped off of the saddle and landed gracefully by the creature's side.

"Stay, Kurama," he stated when he saw the fox making a motion to jump from the saddle. He whined for only a moment before turning away and seeming to mope as he found a safe spot to lay down again.

"Iroh," he called, causing the dragon's head to turn to see him out of one eye. "Stay here and keep yourself safe, okay?"

He received a small hum in response, but he paid it little mind as he turned to greet the spectacled man in front of him with the folder from before still being held in his hand.

"Mister Sato," he greeted with only a slight inclination of his head as a bow.

"Councilman Naruto," the man replied kindly with the slightest hint of a bow of his own. "I apologize for not being able to meet with you before today, but you know how business can be…"

"Of course, I would never want to impose upon your time too heavily," Naruto replied while having to restrain himself from rolling his eyes at the notion of being too busy to have a ten minute meeting over the last two years. Even if he understood the reasoning behind it, it didn't mean he had to be particularly happy about it.

"Of course not," the man responded with a hesitant smile that seemed a bit forced if one knew what to look for. "Much to my ire, however, today is looking to be quite busy as well. I hope this meeting is as short as your secretary told me it would be?"

"Oh I'm sure it will be, it shouldn't be more than ten minutes or so at most. I would, however, insist that it be done in private if possible. The information I have is rather…personal."

"…I assure you, Councilman, that I trust my guards with my life. There is very little in my personal life that I would be embarrassed of them overhearing," the man stated with a quick glance to his sides.

Naruto merely let out a sigh, already having known it would likely be too much to request to speak to the man alone. However, he at least still felt it wise to try.

"If you insist then, Mister Sato," he stated after a brief silence as he held out the slim folder towards him. "Please read the contents of this folder."

Quirking an eyebrow, the spectacled man stepped forward and grabbed it while never actually moving too far away from his bodyguards. Adjusting his glasses a bit, he then flipped the container open to view the contents within.

Upon seeing the first page, the man's face immediately contorted in rage. However, as his eyes darted from side to side – signaling that he was obviously reading the text – it slowly began to soften into a more neutral expression before his eyebrows rose in what was seemingly surprise. As he continued to read, his shoulders sagged slightly before he let out a sigh and he closed the folder.

"Has…has this information been confirmed?" He asked thickly after a moment.

"I confirmed it personally from several different reliable sources," the blond stated while letting a slightly frustrated breath through his nose. "It's actually somewhat beneficial that this meeting was delayed so long as it has been…_difficult_ to oust some of the corruption and incompetence that was in place before I arrived."

"Yes…yes I would imagine it would be," the man stated genuinely after a few moments of silence while he reached a hand under his glasses and rubbed over his now tired-looking eyes. "Still, I can't believe that the old Councilwoman of all people would have sheltered _him_," he finished with venom evident in his tone.

"I've been told by many others that it was difficult to imagine the old woman as corrupt in any sense," the blond began. "However, when I finally took over her positions here officially, it only took me a few days of digging to start finding the inconsistencies. _That_ information was, thankfully, copied by one of the more greedy politicians we eventually ended up apprehending as a result of the information we still had here. It seemed he liked holding potential blackmail material over others."

A silence reigned throughout the area for several seconds after that, neither of the two men seeming to want to speak while the inventor's bodyguards seemed content to keep their mouths shut. The slightly awkward silence was only broken when Naruto bowed at his waist towards the spectacled man and subsequently missed the astonished expression on said man's face as a result.

"Regardless of how this was allowed to happen; on behalf of Fire Lord Izumi and the entirety of the Fire Nation, I apologize for the fact that our previous Ambassador helped to assist this filth to escape the police in the city…even if it was her own son," Naruto stated before raising himself up to a standing position again. "Though our offer to extradite the man back to Republic City still stands, the details of which should be on the back of the last page in the folder, I have also been granted permission to grant your family reparations of some sort if it's within my power."

"…No…no, that won't be necessary," Hiroshi stated as he gave a shaky sigh and a tear slipped down the side of his face. "You're giving me the chance to finally face my wife's murderer. Short of bringing her back from the dead, there's nothing more I could ask of you."

Another silence reigned over the clearing – the only sounds being breathing and a few soft sniffles from the spectacled inventor.

"Councilman…" he finally began in a warmer tone than the blond had ever heard him use after a few moments, "would you care to join me for a drink? I suddenly feel…I feel that I need something to take the edge off for the rest of the day, and my daughter would be furious with me if I drank alone again."

Hearing the rather dramatic shift in tone from what it had been originally, the blond raised a brow at the man as he mentally weighed his options. Finally, after a few moments and glancing to the eyes of the bodyguards who seemed as surprised as he felt, he had only one question for the famed inventor.

"I don't suppose you have any Fire Whiskey, do you?"

* * *

><p><strong>(2 Hours Later)<strong>

_Knock knock knock_

The sound of someone hitting a door rather loudly was drowned out in and ignored Hiroshi Sato's office, for the moment, by the sound of two men laughing boisterously.

"And then…and then I said…'man, I'm on _fire_ today,'" Naruto wheezed out before he quickly erupted into laughter along with Hiroshi who was in a chair directly in front of his own rather than sitting behind his desk.

What exactly was going on in the room was quite obvious for anyone who would enter it. The smell of alcohol was rather pungent, each man had a half-full glass in their hands, and what was once a large bottle of Fire Whisky sat between them with a little under a sixth of it left. From the laughter that the two men erupted into at the bad pun, it was evident that they had both consumed a rather large portion of the bottle if not the entirety of what was missing.

"Oh…o-oh Spirits above," the middle-aged man stated with a heavy slur in between his chuckles as he finally brought himself under control. "It's so strange…if I had thought of this," he stated while gesturing wildly between him and the blond with his glass, "happening before today, I would've called myself crazy."

"No need…I would've done it for you!" The blond responded, causing another few laughs to escape from both men.

"That's it, I'm coming in!" A slightly muffled, angry-sounding, feminine voice from the other side of the entrance to the office hollered, causing Hiroshi's eyes to widen slightly in a bit of panic. Even as he made to move for the bottle on the ground between him and his drinking partner, the door to his office slammed open with a loud _bang_ it slammed into the wall.

"Shiiiiiit," the inventor drew out as he waved his arms wildly in front of him to catch himself as he fell out of his seat entirely. His glass fell off to the side and spilled, but he managed to keep himself from smacking his head off of the floor.

Upon flicking his eyes to the source of the noise, Naruto would've had to keep a bit of a blush from spreading to his cheeks if there wasn't one there already due to his intake of alcohol. Standing at the door, just as beautiful as she was when she made her public appearances alongside her father, was none other than Asami Sato.

The blond had, of course, known about and seen the woman in the past with as many public events as he was obligated to attend. However, he had never actually spoken to her in person since her father usually avoided anything related to the Fire Nation like the plague when at all possible. With her dark red lipstick, alluring green eyes, and beautiful strands of medium-length black hair, it was actually quite difficult to miss her at a public event. Hell, it was actually a wonder that she didn't have at least a small fan club swooning at her feet every time she stepped outside of her home.

"Dad, what's going on in here?" She asked as her eyes hovered over him for a moment before flickering over to Naruto. "You've been ignoring your secretary for over two hours now. We were getting worried about you."

"Ah, I'm so…so sorry sweetheart," the man slurred before he pushed himself up and swayed from side to side for a few moments before his daughter quickly came over and kept him from falling over. "I didn't mean to…hic!...to worry you."

In response, she merely let out a sigh and shook her head despite the slight smile that crossed her lips. After all, despite the fact that he was rather drunk, her father seemed to be quite happy at the moment. Considering that he had warned her in advance that he might be in a foul mood today after a meeting with a member of the United Republic Council, dealing with him like this was certainly better than the alternative.

"So Dad, who's your friend?" She questioned with a bit of mirth as her eyes returned to the form of the blond that was now slowly pushing himself out of his chair. His choice in attire, specifically the golden emblem on his belt, caused her brow to rise since her father didn't seem particularly fond of people from the Fire Nation.

"Oh!" Hiroshi stated excitedly. "Sweetheart, this is…hic!...is Naruto. He's the…uh…the…uhm…"

"Councilman?" The blond offered.

"Ah, that, yes!" The spectacled man exclaimed. "He's the Councilman I told you about."

Seeing Asami's eyebrow quirk in disbelief, Naruto chose to speak up again.

"Heeey, I know that look," he drawled out slightly as he carefully managed to stand of his own volition. "Just because I'm young doesn't mean nothin'," he slurred before quickly raising a hand and pressing the palm on his forehead. "Except that I maybe drank too much…ugh."

Without any verbal warning, the blond suddenly closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, and blew it back out forcefully from his nose. As a result, slim streams of blue fire were emitted from his nostrils – eliciting a surprised squeal and slight jump from Asami who hadn't been expecting it.

After repeating this technique several times over the course of thirty seconds or so, his cerulean blue eyes snapped open and seemed to have lost much of the slight glaze that had covered them such a short time ago.

"My apologies," he stated softly after a moment as he reached a hand up and rubbed his left temple. "It seems I let my liquor get to me. It's a pleasure to finally make the acquaintance of a beauty like yourself, Miss Sato."

'_I can't believe I finally get to actually meet her and I'm __**drunk**__ of all things. …Well, at least the compliment seems to have won me some credit,' _the blond noted as he watched her reaction.

Upon hearing said compliment, the green-eyed teen's cheeks flushed just slightly. Despite being complimented on her appearance regularly by the older gentlemen and ladies she met at formal events, it was significantly different when it happened informally within her father's office by someone around her own age who was also quite attractive.

"I…t-thank you," Asami stated simply after finding herself at a momentary loss for words. However, she quickly recovered herself as she shook herself of her slight stupor. "It's nice to meet you as well, Naruto, was it? I'd shake your hand but…" she trailed with a smile as she nudged her head towards the figure she was currently helping to stand.

"Heh, no worries, you obviously have your hands quite full already," he responded with a small smile.

"If I might ask, what exactly were the two of you talking about? No offense, but I don't think my dad was exactly looking forward to talking to you today…"

"As much as I would like to answer that question, I think it would be better to ask your father when he recovers," the blond responded after a brief pause. "I wouldn't want to ruin any goodwill that may have been made today by telling you something he might've wanted to keep secret."

The spectacled man's response to that was, rather comically, to suddenly snore loudly as his form leaned heavily against Asami's own. Said woman merely furrowed her brow slightly and sighed in an exasperated fashion when she finally noticed that he had passed out while leaning against her.

'_He must have drank quite a bit…' _she thought, her face souring and turning away from her father as he let out a breath that absolutely _reeked_ of alcohol.

"And I think on _that_ note, that I should probably take my leave," the blond stated with a chuckle and a slight wince as his head throbbed painfully. "Will you be alright getting him to a bed or something?"

"…I'll manage," she stated while releasing the mild glare she had given the blond as she initially assumed that he was dumping her father's unconscious body on her. "If I can't wake him up long enough for him to walk, then I can have a butler help me get him to a safe place."

"Alright then," Naruto stated with a nod as he glanced towards the large windows in the office only to let his eyes widen marginally in surprise as he saw the sun about to retreat entirely underneath the horizon. "What time is it exactly, if you know off-hand?"

"Around seven-thirty or so, I think," she responded as she carefully eased her father into the cushioned chair he had been sitting in beforehand. "Oh and since you're apparently on the Council, you might also like to know that there's a rumor the Avatar's in town. Apparently she ended getting arrested earlier today."

"Is that so? I might just have to go see that for myself…" the blond responded with a small smile as his gaze drifted back towards the beautiful teenager in front of him. "Thank you for the information, Asami. Again, it was a pleasure to meet you…even if it wasn't exactly under the best circumstances," he said with a small bow towards her before exiting the room.

'_So Korra decided to come to Republic City after all…I guess this calls for a quick visit to Air Temple Island.' _

* * *

><p><strong>(10 Minutes Later)<strong>

_YippYippYippYippYipp_

Naruto's eyes were currently shut tight as Kurama's yipping, which somehow was louder than the beat of Iroh's wings as he flew over the city, echoed in his head even as it throbbed painfully. Thankfully it was already rather dark, so the level of light in the sky was minimal and kept his current headache from getting any worse.

"Please, Kurama…I'm begging you here," he stated as he caught the fox running around the saddle and dragged it into his lap. "Be. Quiet."

_Yipp_

"Ugh, you're lucky you're so adorable."

Following that, the small fox fell silent only after Naruto made a point to continuously pet it during the short flight from the Sato mansion to Air Temple Island. As they drew closer, a large White Lotus ship stationed at the dock became visible along with a few guards standing at attention near the lowered ramp.

"Take us down Iroh," he stated just loudly enough that he knew the creature would hear his command over the beat of its wings. "Let's try one more time to talk some sense into the old man…"

Even as the dragon descended, a group of three Airbending gliders soared beneath him and landed on the dock before rushing to the figure that was now obviously Korra. As Iroh got closer, the entire group looked up towards him – obviously having overheard the flaps of Iroh's wings.

Rather gracefully considering the amount of room he had to work with, Iroh landed alongside the ship. After coming to a stop, Naruto grabbed Kurama and placed him atop his scalp thoughtlessly before slinking off of the saddle and walking towards the group.

"Naruto," Tenzin's deep voice greeted before anyone else could. Glancing around, the Firebender noted that Tenzin stood near the back of the dock a fair distance away from his children who were all clinging onto Korra. Three White Lotus guards stood behind her, and slightly off to their side was a large polar bear dog.

"Tenzin," the blond greeted in return despite the fact that his eyes latched onto the large ball of fur that was currently staring back at him. "I'm guessing it's safe to assume that this is yours?" He asked with a glance towards Korra.

"Oh, yeah," she responded with what was obviously a slightly forced smile on her face. "Her name is Naga."

"Well then, it's nice to meet you Naga," he stated as he held a hand forward for the polar bear dog to sniff. After doing so, the large creature directed its gaze to his face before it nuzzled his hand a bit.

"You're a good girl, aren't you," he cooed slightly as he moved his hand under her jaw and scratched. In response, Naga's leg twitched as it thumped loudly against the ground.

"Wow, she must really like you," Korra stated in genuine surprise. "She usually just slobbers over everyone at first…"

"What can I say, I have a way with animals most of the time," Naruto shot back with a small grin despite the fact that his head was still throbbing in pain. "That's hardly why I'm here though," he continued before turning his gaze towards Tenzin and walking towards the man.

"Republic City needs Korra to be here, Tenzin," he continued once he had gotten within a few feet of him. "Without her making a stand as the Avatar, the Equalist movement will ever truly go away."

After a brief pause, the Airbending Master took in a deep breath.

"You're right."

"Now I…wait, what?" Naruto asked with evident confusion as he cut off his planned rebuttal.

"I have done my best to uphold my father's legacy since he passed, something that I have you to thank for with your support in the United Republic Council," he began with a nod of his head towards Naruto. "However, despite our best efforts, it's clearer to me than ever after today that things here in the city have fallen out of balance. I had kept telling myself that I should put off training Korra in Airbending to uphold his legacy…however, I realize now that Korra _is_ his legacy."

After taking another deep breath, Tenzin strode past Naruto and walked over to where the young Avatar was standing alongside Naga and his children.

"Korra, if you still wish to, you may stay here and begin your Airbending training."

"YES! YESYESYESYES!" The dark-skinned teen cheered before quickly picking up the three kids near her who were cheering as well as Tenzin in her arms and giving them a strong hug.

'_That is some remarkable upper-body strength…' _Naruto thought with a soft chuckle as he watched the group of them actually be raised into the air by the teen. However, that amusement changed into a slight amount of panic when she had placed them all down and was suddenly directly in front of him.

'_Holy crap, when did she get there?!' _

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She said excitedly as she then pulled him into a hug that was nearly strong enough squeeze the air out of his lungs. The fact that he could hear his back crack once or twice made it all the more obvious that she was quite strong.

"You're welcome," he wheezed out as he quickly recovered from the hug after being placed back down on his feet. "I'm just glad that Tenzin finally saw reason about this."

"Me too…but just between me and you," she began as she leaned in closer to him with a sly grin on her face, "I think it was because I told him Katara thought I should be here."

"What was that about my mother?!" An all-too-familiar deep voice questioned from behind them, causing both of them to promptly burst into a brief fit of loud laughter.

* * *

><p><strong>(The Next Day; Noon-ish)<strong>

Naruto stood in his usual attire alongside Tenzin as Korra paced nervously in front of them in her usual Water Tribe attire – something that the blond did his best to ignore observing as the skin-tight tunic she wore made some of her curves stand out quite well. Aside from the pacing, the fact that she had a bit of sweat at her brow and that her hands were fidgeting let everyone know that she was radiating nervousness at the moment.

"What if…what if I can't think of anything to say?" She asked after a moment as she turned to the two older males.

"Simply say 'I have no comment on that at this time' and move onto the next one," the blond amongst the group stated in response. "You're probably going to get at least a few personal questions since this is your first press conference, so don't be afraid to pass on any of those. Don't let anything they ask get under your skin though, or they'll definitely try to press you on it."

"Be short and concise in your answers unless you _need_ to elaborate further," Tenzin offered after a few moments. "It usually helps me when I focus on answering questions as efficiently as possible."

The teen merely nodded in acceptance to the advice before taking in some deep breaths to calm herself down.

Suddenly, over the speakers that were placed around the area, a tap was heard before a voice came over it.

"Sound test one, two, three…three, two, one," it stated simply. At this, the murmur of the large crowd a fair distance in front of them grew significantly louder. Shortly afterwards, a thin, spectacle-wearing man approached the small group.

"Whenever you're ready, Avatar," he stated simply as he waved a hand towards the podium that was a fair distance away.

Moving as a group, Naruto and Tenzin went up alongside her with Lin Beifong, the Republic City Chief of Police, coming up the other side for security purposes. As soon as Korra stood at the podium and introduced herself, she was bombarded with several questions from reporters amongst the crowd while cameras flashed in order to take pictures of her.

"Does this mean you've moved to Republic City?"

"Were you trying to send a message to the Triads yesterday?"

"Will you be fighting crime, the anti-bending revolution, or both?"

"Will you be working with Chief Beifong and the police?"

"Uh, well yes, I am definitely here to stay," she finally chose to respond to momentarily stop the flow of questions that were being asked. "But I don't exactly…have a plan yet? You see, I'm still in training and…"

'_Pull it together Korra,' _Naruto thought as he watched from beside her. _'If you sound hesitant then they'll pounce on you.' _

"Look," she stated firmly after blundering on for a few more moments, "all I know is that Avatar Aang intended for this city to be the center of peace and balance in the world. I believe that, if we work together, we can make his dream a reality."

'_Nice recovery for someone who hasn't spoken publicly before,' _the blond noted mentally as a small smile pulled at his lips.

"Avatar Korra," a reporter called out as the others fell silent, "I believe that we all understand why Councilman Tenzin and Lin Beifong stand beside you today. However, I'm curious as to your relationship with Councilman Naruto; is it strictly professional or something…more?"

"I…he…we…" she stuttered magnificently as a slight blush rose upon her cheeks at the suggestion.

'_**Really **__bad time to stutter, Korra.' _

"Are you romantically involved with one of Republic City's most eligible bachelors?"

"Did you two have a prior relationship before yesterday, or was it love at first sight?"

"Would you care to address the rumors that he's going to take more than one wife?"

"Would you care to tell the rest of the ladies out there how well-endowed he is?"

"I…I…" the young Avatar stated as her mild blush grew into a brilliant shade of red at the last question.

'_Reporters,' _Naruto grumbled internally before promptly moving from his spot to Korra's side and placed a hand on her shoulder to grab her attention.

"Let me address some of their questions really quick so you can get back to the important stuff, alright?" He asked with what he hoped would come across as a comforting smile.

"Y-yeah," the Water Tribe teen replied with a thoughtless nod before she took a few steps to the side to let Naruto have the podium. Her face was still lit up with the blush that had been caused by that final question

"Hold your questions for a moment while I address something," Naruto stated firmly into the various microphones as the reporters started to try to holler questions at him. Holding his tongue for a few moments until they stopped shouting, he nodded before he began to speak.

"First of all, I am merely here today to give Avatar Korra some moral support as well as offer her some advice in regards to public speaking – something she had never done before today. We only met very recently and no, we are not romantically involved. Any other lines of questioning regarding _my_ personal life should have no place at this conference and will now be ignored. Please keep any more questions directed towards the Avatar relevant _strictly _to her return to the city, thank you," he finished before stepping away and gesturing for Korra to take his place as he moved away.

Following that, the rest of the conference wasn't particularly noteworthy with only a few questions being asked about her current training status and place of residence. After another ten minutes or so, it ended with a relieved-looking teenager stepping away from the podium.

"Thank the Spirits, I never thought that would be over," she stated with a sigh before she turned her gaze to Naruto. "Thanks for the save back there, by the way."

"No big deal," the blond responded with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I should've known that they would've honed in on you if I was nearby, sorry I didn't think of that beforehand."

"It's alright," Korra responded as Tenzin wandered off to speak briefly to a friendly reporter who had called for him. "So, what was that all about?"

Letting out a deep sigh, Naruto raised a hand and pinched his brow as he hung his head slightly.

"To keep it short and sweet, apparently I'm considered quite hot…" he stated seriously before he raised his head back up and stared down into Korra's eyes with the corners of his lips twitched into a smile.

The sound of Korra's palm slapping her forehead as she realized that he had made a terrible pun echoed for several feet due to the force she used to hit herself.

"Of course you would make a joke," she commented with a sigh as she pulled her hand away. "Seriously though…"

"Despite my _amazing_ play on words, I was quite serious," Naruto commented as he let his smile die back down a bit. "People in the city apparently find me attractive or at least popular enough to warrant digging into my personal life to try to find information about any of my romantic interests."

"Oh, that sounds…" she began before trailing off.

"Terrible?" Naruto offered up with a humorless chuckle after she had paused long enough to warrant a suggestion. "It is, honestly, but you get somewhat used to it after a while. It's their job to dig up dirt on people, so I can't really fault them for doing their jobs even if it is annoying," he continued with a shrug.

"Still…"

'_Well, if it sounds that bad to her, then hopefully she'll have it easier than I did. Given that she's the Avatar though…yeah, like Hell that'll happen.' _

The two then stood in silence for a few moments before Tenzin eventually finished up whatever statement he was giving to the reporter and began moving towards them.

"Well, that all went better than I honestly expected it to," the middle-aged man confessed with a small smile betraying his usually-stoic expression. "Korra, you did splendidly out there."

"If you say so, Tenzin," the teen shot back with a small shake of her head, still feeling guilty about having stuttered so badly when the reporters had pressed her.

"You're hardly expected to know how to handle a crowd your first time speaking, Avatar or not," the Airbending Master retorted as he placed a hand comfortingly upon her shoulder. "Honestly, you did fine. It will be easier next time when your nerves aren't bothering you so much."

Korra merely nodded at that point. Even during the short speech and Q&A session she gave, she had felt more and more at ease as time passed.

"Well, now that this is all handled, how would you like to return to the temple and have lunch before we get started on your Airbending training?"

Suddenly, at the aspect of training in Airbending, any thoughts the young Avatar was having regarding the interview vanished as she seemed to vibrate with energy.

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" Korra exclaimed excitedly as she turned towards the man. "Come on, let's go!" she continued as she quickly walked into City Hall, the roof of which currently held both Iroh and Oogi.

"I swear, that girl is going to have to learn patience," the bald man huffed out as he merely watched Korra run ahead of him into the building. "Are you going to be joining us?" Tenzin continued with a glance over to his fellow, though _slightly_ shorter Councilman.

"Hmm…I suppose I could," Naruto hummed out after thinking for a moment. "I assume you're going to make her go through the Spinning Gates of Pain first?"

"That is the plan, yes," the bald man confirmed in an annoyed voice as his eyebrow twitched while the two of them strode into City Hall.

"Oh, then yes, I will _definitely_ be joining you today," Naruto stated with a rather sadistic-sounding chuckle. "It ought to be fun seeing someone else learning to move through them and get knocked on their butt for a change."*****

* * *

><p><strong>*No, Naruto cannot Airbend. It will be explained next chapter. Keep calm and carry on. <strong>


	3. Spinning Gates and Bending Battles

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Legend of Korra. This is purely a piece of fiction that is being made without profit. **

* * *

><p><span><strong>Author's Notes<strong>

**So yeah, I decided that I wanted to push myself to give you all another chapter for the holidays. I'll probably come back and edit the ending of this chapter a bit later since the ending feels kind of rushed. **

**But, regardless of that, I hope you all enjoy. Merry Christmas.**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Naruto: Dragon of the East<strong>

**Chapter 3: Spinning Gates and Bending Battles**

* * *

><p><strong>(1 Hour Later)<strong>

After having a light lunch within the familiar dining hall of Air Temple Island, Naruto found himself currently waiting, with Kurama upon his usual perch, in front of a large device that was painfully familiar to him. In fact, just looking at it brought back countless memories of having a giant slab of solid wood slamming into his body.

'_Seriously…who in the Hell thinks of something like walking through spinning wooden gates for basic Airbending training?' _Naruto's mind questioned for perhaps the hundredth time over the past few years.

Tenzin's children, all dressed in their typical attire, were standing with him in the rather spacious area. Jinora was standing calmly at his right while Ikki and Meelo were at his left and actually bouncing with excitement.

Then, from over the small lip that the elevated platform had, the group all saw Tenzin and Korra approaching them. The former looked the same as he usually did, but the latter had swapped out of her usual Water Tribe get-up and changed into Air Nomad robes.

"Korra's gonna Airbend, Korra's gonna Airbend!" Ikki chanted animatedly from the left.

"What in the world is that contraption?" The Avatar questioned while looking wide-eyed at the various gates.

'_Pain…sheer pain, that's what it is.' _

"This is a time honored tool that has helped generations of Air Nomads master the most fundamental aspects of Airbending," Tenzin replied in what was obviously a lecturing tone.

"The Spinning Gates of Pain," Naruto answered a moment later, though the smile on his face made it obvious that he was trying to be at least somewhat playful. Noticing that he was currently receiving another annoyed look from Tenzin much like he had earlier, but a curious one from Korra, he continued on. "If you're anything like me when I went through this, you'll understand soon enough."

"Speaking of which," Tenzin began with a light glare towards the blond. "Naruto, since you're so excited to add your input today, why don't you explain the exercise and demonstrate?"

"Him?" The Water Tribe teen questioned with a glance between her Airbending instructor and the blond Firebender. "Uh, no offense, but isn't this supposed to be _Airbending_? Why would he go through it?"

"It is _technically_ considered Airbending, and those gates _do _help you master one of the fundamental aspects of the art as Tenzin said," the blond began after drawing in a deep breath and letting out a sigh. "However, just because I'm a Firebender doesn't mean I'm completely incapable of learning certain aspects of other elements. I have studied Airbending here from time to time ever since I came back to the city two years ago. It was actually studying Airbender breathing techniques with Jinora here that allowed me to create so much more fire in my Dragon's Breath that you saw in our spar," he explained while placing a hand on the shorter girl's shoulder.

He also failed to notice the fact that her cheeks turned a bit rosy at the simple contact.

"…Really?" Korra questioned with a genuinely surprised look.

"Yes," Naruto confirmed with a nod. "Despite the fact that you're the only known person in existence that can actually harness all four of the physical elements, everyone is capable of learning certain aspects of each element. These gates, for example, help you to 'be like the leaf' as Tenzin would likely say."

"Be like the leaf?" Korra asked as her head cocked to the side to display her confusion. Tenzin was about to explain, but Naruto continued on once again before the man got the chance.

"The object of this exercise is simply to pass through the gates while they're spinning. The idea is to move _around_ or, better yet, _with_ an obstacle that you encounter instead of resisting it – much like a leaf traveling on the air would. _That_ is the fundamental aspect this will attempt to teach you…quite painfully, I might add."

"So…I just have to make it through the gates while they're spinning? That seems easy enough," the Avatar stated confidently as she inspected the tall, carved gates in a bit more closely.

"Hah, you say that now," the blond stated with a warm chuckle as he unclipped his Jian and placed it gently upon the ground. Kurama, seemingly sensing what was coming, hoped off of his scalp and contented himself with sitting on the concrete surface they stood upon. Then, rolling his shoulders, Naruto stepped up near the gates with a reminiscent smile on his face. "Tenzin, if you would be so kind since you were so eager to volunteer me?"

Without a word, the older man flourished his wrists in a spiral-like motion for a few moments before thrusting them forward. The result was a gust of wind strong enough to whip up the clothes of everyone in the immediate area as it passed them and, subsequently, impacted the gates. With a _creak _and a few chips of wood being blown off of them, they began to spin rapidly in place.

Upon seeing the speed at which they were spinning, Korra's expression grew notably less confident than it had been a few moments ago.

Without a word, the Firebender amongst the group stepped into the spinning gates with his arms held up in front of him. He flawlessly and quickly began weaving his way through the wooden gates, spiraling his body around quickly several times as needed when he felt or saw a gate about to impact him. Idly, he heard Tenzin going a bit more in-depth in regards to his earlier explanation with Korra – particularly making sure to note that Airbending focused heavily on spiral movements.

Finally emerging from the other side, the blond let a grin pull his lips up once again.

'_I've still got it,' _he thought, having half-expected to get smacked at least once by a gate since it had been a while since he last went through them. However, seeing as he didn't, he merely walking around the edge of it until he was able to be seen by the group again.

"Aww!" Meelo groaned as soon as he was in sight. "I wanted to see you get hit again!"

'_Such a loving little guy,' _the blond thought far too sweetly in his mind as his eyebrow twitched. _'I'll have to show him how much I appreciate that comment later…' _

"Okay…I think I've got it. Let's do this!" The Water Tribe teen yelled out before charging forward. Naruto wanted to shout out to her to stop, but to say anything without her failing first-hand at least once beforehand would likely wouldn't get the message to sink in.

Instead, he merely sat back to watch the incoming show.

_Thud!_

"Ugh!"

_Thud!_

"Gah!"

_Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!_

With a final pained grunt, Korra was ejected out of the gates and onto her ass near the same spot she had initially entered. She sat there for a moment, seemingly in thought or in a momentary daze, before getting up and charging in once again.

'_I __**probably**__ should have stopped her there…' _Naruto thought as his eyes followed her form diving back into the gates.

_Thud! Thud!_

'…_Naaah, I'll tell her when she actually stops for a minute.' _

_Thud!Thud!Thud!_

"Don't force your way through!" Jinora shouted in an attempt to be helpful from nearby him. Glancing down, he couldn't help but smile at the pre-teen. After all, without her help and input during his time on the island, he likely would have never discovered the new way to use Dragon's Breath. He was well aware that her advice could be incredibly helpful if it was taken seriously.

"Dance! Dance like the wind!" Ikki shouted a moment later, though her comment likely caused poor Korra more distraction rather than actually being helpful in a significant way.

_ThudThudThudThudThud_

Yes, definitely more distracting than actually helpful.

"Be the leaf!" Meelo shouted a moment later.

THUD!THUD!

The two last solid-sounding impacts sent the Air Nomad-clad teenager spinning back out towards the group, nearly dead on her feet. As she actually tumbled backwards, Naruto quickly moved forward and caught her before she impacted the hard concrete beneath her.

Gently lowering her down, unaware of Jinora giving the teen a slightly jealous look towards the teen, Naruto only removed his support from her once she was laying down against the concrete.

"Ugh…" she grunted softly, obviously having hit her head rather heavily at least once or twice.

Still kneeling down next to her from having lowered her down, the blond felt a slightly smug-looking smile creep onto his lips as the teen's mind seemed to snap back to reality.

"Hey," he greeted simply, amusement obvious in his tone of voice.

"…Hey," she returned weakly before sitting up and shaking her head to clear the cobwebs.

"So," Naruto drew out for a few moments, "remember what I said about not resisting any obstacles? Yeah, what you just did is pretty much the textbook definition of what you should _not_ do. That was probably closer to 'be the rock' than 'be the leaf.'"

He was rewarded for his comment by a bit of a glare from the teen.

"Oh don't even try giving me that look," Naruto huffed back in response. "I told you that these were The Spinning Gates of Pain. Did you really think I would call them that without a good reason?"

Korra opened her mouth to respond that, but then paused and quickly shut it again when she realized she had no comeback. It _was_ kind of difficult to hear that name and not infer something involving pain would happen at one point or another.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," the blond continued with a chuckle as he stood up and held a hand down to the young Avatar. Grabbing it, she pulled herself upright with a groan as a few parts of her body throbbed in pain.

"That was a…valiant first attempt," Tenzin offered a bit hesitantly from behind as the two of them turned back to gaze at him. "Now, what do you think you did wrong?"

"…I got hit by the gates," the teen offered bluntly as if the answer was obvious.

"Well, yes," the Airbending Master began before letting out a loud sigh. "However, you're looking at it in far too literal a manner. Think back to what Naruto said about this exercise, and I believe the answer will come to you."

At this, the teen's brow furrowed in though. Her mind immediately latched onto what he had said when he was crouched over her, Tenzin seemly not having overheard it.

'_I'm supposed to not resist obstacles...' _she repeated within her mind.

"I…resisted obstacles that were in front of me?" Korra offered after a moment, though the way she phrased it as a question made it seem as if she wasn't entirely confident of her answer.

Tenzin, in response, blinked several times before actually managing to speak.

"Er…yes…yes that's right," he stated, surprise evident in his voice that she had managed to understand that much without having it explained to her. However, with a quick shake of his head, he re-entered his lecturing mode.

"In order to be able to pass through the gates, you must be able to flow like the leaf as I said earlier. Do not try to resist change, but instead, accept it and move with it. Understand?"

"I think so," Korra responded genuinely with a quick nod.

"Do you remember the stance I showed you at the South Pole?" Naruto questioned from the side, drawing everyone's attention back to him. Upon seeing the Avatar nod, he continued. "Try to stay in a stance similar to that and move slowly rather than running straight through at first. You'll have more time to make adjustments that way."

"Okay…" she responded while taking a deep breath and holding out her fists in front of her. "I'm ready to try again."

Without a verbal response, Tenzin sent another gust of air towards the gates – making them all begin to spin rapidly again. This time, instead of rushing straight in, Korra took her time approaching the device before slowly moving her way inside.

Unlike last time, she actually managed to slip past the first gate. However, as that was only due to timing it closely with her eyes, a loud _thud_ rung out through the clearing again shortly after she had moved past it.

However, much to everyone's surprise, the sound was not repeated again immediately. Glancing in, everyone was able to see Korra beginning to spin her body around with one of the gates. The movement was far from graceful, looking far more hectic and out of sheer reflex and instinct instead, but the sight nonetheless caused a small smile to pull at everyone's lips. Their smiles only increased a little more, then, when another solid _thud_ and a grunt of pain rung out a moment later.

After all, they all had served their own time learning this rather painful lesson.

* * *

><p><strong>(A Few Hours Later)<strong>

"I believe that is enough for today," Tenzin stated as he stood in front of a battered and slightly bruised Avatar. "We will come back to this from time to time, but tomorrow I will begin teaching you basic Airbending stances and movements."

"Alright," Korra responded with a bit of a subdued nod, her excitement about learning the basic movements quelled significantly by the fact that she had still been unable to get entirely through the gates. The Airbenders and Naruto had been telling her she was improving significantly, and they seemed to be quite honest with that declaration, but she was having trouble seeing how.

Naruto, sitting calmly over at the side next to Jinora and Meelo, did not have said trouble.

'_She obviously doesn't think she improved at all,' _he thought with a slight sigh as he saw how her usual energy seemed to be a bit subdued as Tenzin called a halt to her training for the day. _'Still, this isn't exactly something you can see drastic improvement in until you've all but mastered it.' _

"Oi, wake up Shorty," Naruto muttered as he nudged his left elbow into the figure on his left. This caused the sleeping form of Meelo, who _had_ been sleeping by resting against him, to topple over to the side comically just as he woke.

Jinora, who had been sitting at his right keeping Kurama occupied in her lap by petting him, quickly moved the creature back up to the blond's shoulder where he scurried up to his perch upon his head.

Reaching his hand up once the fox had settled, Naruto scratched behind one of its ears.

"I see you have Jinora trained well," he said jokingly.

_Yipp!_

Smiling, the blond then stood up and stretched a bit, working out the kinks that had built up from sitting on the hard surface for a lengthy period of time as he watched Korra continuously work on getting through the gates. After he finished, he looked up into the sky and let out a deep breath.

"You really did well today Korra," he praised as he redirected his gaze to the girl. "I really mean that. You did _a lot_ better than I did my first day. By the time I was finished, I nearly had to be dragged away because I was so bruised."

"Look," the teen began in a slightly exasperated tone, "I appreciate you trying to make me feel better b—"

"Naruto's being quite sincere, I assure you," Tenzin stated from beside the teen with a chuckle as she turned to him and quirked up an eyebrow. "He actually ended up having to stay here for a night to heal because he was so heavily bruised."

"…Really?" The teen questioned after a moment. "So…I really didn't do too badly then?"

"No, Korra, you didn't," Tenzin responded with a shake of his head. "Air is obviously the element your personality will make the most difficult to master. However, despite that fact, I'd say you seem to be progressing through this at about the same rate Jinora did when she was younger. You honestly did far better than I thought you would today."

"Oh…"

"Well, on _that_ note, I believe I'll be taking my leave now," Naruto interrupted before anyone could add on their own opinions on the matter. "I've got a match to get ready for tonight."

"A match? You mean a Pro-Bending match?!" Korra questioned, all of her energy magically returning upon the realization hitting her. "Tenzin, ca—"

"Absolutely not," the man interrupted before she could even finish her question. "Even if I didn't vehemently dislike the _sport_, which I assure you I do, you would not be spectating it today. You need plenty of rest and perhaps a bit of Pema's ointment to make sure you aren't bruised too heavily to learn your Airbending movements tomorrow. Besides, I feel that a calm, quiet environment would be best for you to learn Airbending in, not a massive stadium filled with people."

"Oh come on Tenzin~" Naruto drew out. "Are you _still_ blowing hot air about Pro-Bending?"

Three simultaneous fleshy smacks almost immediately followed his pun as Jinora, Korra, and Tenzin all slapped their palms onto their foreheads, making the blond grin widely.

"Hah, I get it now! It's because daddy's an Airbender!" Ikki stated a few moments later before she giggled profusely along with Meelo.

"I hardly see it as…'blowing hot air,'" the man huffed. "I don't mind if _you_ see it as a way to pass the time, but to _me_ it is an absolute mockery of the noble tradition of bending."

'_Just stop while you're ahead, Naruto,' _the blond told himself with an inward sigh. _'No use trying to have this debate again, you know it won't get you anywhere.' _

"Fair enough, I suppose," Naruto sighed aloud with a shake of his head. "Sorry Korra, another time maybe," he offered with a kind smile towards the teen.

"Yeah, maybe," she responded with a small smile, though she was obviously disappointed. "Good luck in your match."

With a grin and nod of acknowledgement towards her, he turned and began walking away to the area he knew Iroh was kept during his visit.

* * *

><p><strong>(Around an Hour Later, Pro-Bending Locker Room)<strong>

"This Mako has moxy! He advances and fires two quick shots…Yomo is hammered back to zone three! With the clock winding down, can Yomo hold on? He's teetering on the edge of the ring, the Fire Ferrets line up to strike…and…Yomo is knocked into the drink! The Fire Ferrets win with a solid three-to-one victory!"

The voice of the Pro-Bending announcer, while being broadcast over the radio waves for those listening in elsewhere, was also broadcast around the stadium for any spectators there to hear as well. Even as he announced the Ferret's victory over their opponents, the crowd erupted into a fair amount of cheering and applause for them – particularly Mako.

Naruto, having actually watched the entire match after walking into one of the two locker rooms that the stadium offered, merely smiled at the outcome. While he didn't particularly care for Hasook or Mako, the respective Waterbender and Firebender for the Fire Ferrets, he was quite happy for Bolin – someone he viewed as one of the few close friends he possessed.

Upon seeing the match finish, however, he quickly turned his attention away from the arena and moved to one of the lockers in the room. Upon opening it, he quickly shed out of his usual clothing and slipped into the uniform that was stored inside.

The uniform for the Akimichi Fire Shadows consisted of a base layer of a black shirt and pants with dark-red pads, boots, and a helmet. As he was the Firebender of the team, his uniform also came with a red sash to tie around his waist.

It was only after quickly slipping all of his gear on that he heard the approaching voices of the victorious team in the last match.

"You guys have got to work on your footwork and situational awareness," a voice that the blond easily recognized as Mako's rung out. "I know we won pretty easily tonight, but it could really cost us if you keep stumbling around like that. One day you two are going to bump into each other, and it's going to get us in trouble."

"Look, we won! What in the Hell is the big deal?!" Another voice, Hasook's, responded.

"Guys, guys, cool off," the last voice, Bolin's, stated in an appeasing manner. "Sure, we have some things to work on, but we won! Let's just work on it and get better and enjoy the win, alright?"

'_Leave it to Bolin to try to placate the egos of those two,' _Naruto thought with a small smirk.

"Fine, but we train tomorrow before our match. We can't afford any mistakes this close to the Championship Tournament," Mako stated as the group entered the locker room from off the metal platform that carried them there.

"…I can't, got shit to do," Hasook stated before moving quickly to the exit. "See you two tomorrow."

"Hey wa-!"

_Click_

"…Ugh!" Mako grunted in obvious frustration as the door closed behind his teammate as he left. "I swear, that guy is so fucking aggravating sometimes!"

"I know Bro, I know," Bolin stated with a pat on his brother's shoulder before he looked around and caught sight of the other individual in the room. "Naruto! What's going on man?"

"Hey Bo," he responded with a smile as he turned towards the Earthbending teen clad in his team uniform. "Just prepping for the match, you?"

"Delighting myself in the sweet, sweet taste of victory," the green-eyed boy responded with a grin of his own as he jokingly smacked his lips together for effect. "Where are Choji and Shikamaru?"

_Click_

"Ask and you shall receive," the blond commented jokingly as the door to the locker room opened to reveal said men clad in uniforms identical to Naruto's own.

Shikamaru was pale, had jet-black hair pulled up into a spiky ponytail, and had beady brown eyes. He stood at around five-foot-eight or so and had a rather slim build. A blue sash tied around his waist marked him immediately as a Waterbender, and his rather lackadaisical gaze and posture made it clear that he couldn't really care less about the fact that he was about to compete in a match.

Choji, on the other hand, also stood at around five-foot-eight, but had a much stockier build than his Waterbending teammate. He had short, spiky brown hair, beady black eyes, and the slightest bit of stubble along his chin. The process of elimination, even when ignoring the green sash tied around his waist, would mark him as the team's Earthbender.

"Hey guys!" Bolin stated in a warm voice, beckoning the two of them over even while Mako wandered over to his own locker to begin changing out of his uniform. "What's goin' on?"

"Not much," Choji responded kindly while Shikamaru just shrugged his shoulders as if that was a perfectly valid answer to the question.

"Man, aren't you guys a talkative bunch today?" The Earthbending Fire Ferret questioned as he glanced between everyone. "C'mon, there's gotta be something up between the four of us!"

"Well…I _did_ finally ask Ino on a date," Choji confessed with a grin, bringing about an identical grin from Bolin and Naruto while even Shikamaru smiled a bit. "She said yes!"

"Dude, that's _awesome_!" Bolin exclaimed.

"Congrats, man," Naruto stated sincerely a moment later. "I know you've been wanting to ask her out for a while now."

"Yeah, life's pretty good," the stocky man responded with a soft chuckle. "Though that's not quite as good as Shika's news, I'd say."

"..Troublesome," the pale boy stated with a sigh as he glanced towards his best friend. Closing his eyes and seemingly acknowledging the fact that he was going to be bothered until he explained what was going on now, he took in a deep breath through his nose before speaking again.

"Temari and I got engaged last week."

"…You hear that Bo?" Naruto questioned in a bit of a sad tone with a glance towards the teen.

"Sure do," said teen responded in an equally sad tone as he began to flawlessly play along. "Shikamaru goes and gets engaged and doesn't even bother to tell us until Choji strong-arms him into doing it. We're outsiders now."

"We _do _seem to have been abandoned," Naruto confessed.

"How cold of you, Shikamaru," Bolin continued.

"Ice cold, some might say," the blond finished with a small grin.

"Eh…that one was a bit weak," Choji stated with a 'so-so' gesture of his hand. "I give it a four out of ten."

"What? Waterbenders can manipulate ice! Come on, that word play was excellent!"

"Eh, I dunno man," Bolin began with a serious look on his face as he rubbed his chin. "I think that one kinda crashed and burned," he finished with a grin large enough that it almost threatened to split his face in half.

"Hah!" Naruto stated aloud in amusement, drowning out the fact that both Choji and Shikamaru had brought their hands up to cover their faces at the lame joke. "I'll make a master wordsmith out of you yet, Bo."

"Pft, you say that like I'm not already," the Earthbender shot back with a wide grin still on his face. "You guys up for getting some grub after your match?"

"I could probably go for a quick bite," Naruto admitted while glancing over to his two teammates.

"I'll go if you stop with the bad jokes for a week around us," Choji stated almost immediately.

"Make it two weeks, and I'm in," Shikamaru responded immediately afterwards.

"Done and done," Naruto and Bolin stated almost simultaneously, making the two of them turn to one another and grin.

_Click_

"Two minutes, Fire Shadows," one of the Pro-Bending staff stated as he poked his head into the locker room before pulling the door shut again behind him with another _click. _

"Looks like that's our queue," Naruto began before pulling his helmet out of his locker before then shutting and locking it. Then, slipping it on over his head, he moved out towards the small metal platform that would ferry them to the arena. Shikamaru and Choji, who had been holding their helmets under the crooks of one of their arms, quickly followed suit.

"Knock 'em dead guys!" Bolin shouted.

"Oh, don't worry," Naruto stated while letting loose a chuckle. "I think we've got this one in the bag."

With a bit of a whir, the metal platform that the Fire Shadows stood upon began to move towards the arena even as the stadium lights dimmed severely. Suddenly, in the middle of the arena, a spotlight flicked on to shine down on an announcer who was standing there with a microphone inches from his mouth.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we now move on to the main event for the evening!" The sound of excitement from the crowd became obvious as the noise level rose rather dramatically.

"Introducing first, the challengers…THE PINNACLE PALACE PLATYPUS BEARS!" The announcer drew out loudly, bringing forth a moderate amount of applause from the audience as another spotlight suddenly shined down. Upon inspection, a group men clad in brown-colored uniforms could be seen on an extending metal platform from the of the arena opposite the locker room Naruto and the others had used – all of them waving their arms in acceptance of the attention rained upon them

"Now, introducing their opponents and your REIGNING CHAMPIONS, THE AKIMICHI FIRE SHADOWS!" The announcer drew out the name of the team once again, though this time the loud uproar of applause was loud enough to almost cause the stadium walls to shake slightly. A moment later, another spotlight shined down and revealed Naruto, Shikamaru, and Choji standing on an extending metal platform of their own. The applause then nearly increased two-fold when the three men raised their closed fists simultaneously into the air to acknowledge the crowd until they had safely reached the arena. It was only then that the stadium lights kicked fully back on.

Without any sort of verbal signal, the three teammates fell into their typical pattern – Naruto in the center with Choji at his left and Shikamaru at his right. Still looking forward, he took note of his opponents.

'_This should be quick judging by what they've shown already,' _he thought immediately as his eyes flickered to each of them. _'Still, no need to underestimate them. No holding back…' _

Naruto then began hopping up and down on the balls of his feet with his arms pulled up into a simple guard. As he repeated the movement time and time again, his eyes remained gazing straight ahead at the enemy team's Firebender as a grin crept up his lips.

'_You're first, big fella.' _

_Ding ding_!

Having been in the middle of falling down during one of his small hops, as Naruto's feet impacted the earth again, he immediately sprang into action with a quick flurry of lightning-quick jabs – sending five blasts of blue flame towards his opponent's chest. Immediately after that flurry, he jumped into the air a bit and performed something reminiscent of a roundhouse kick – sending a moderately-sized horizontal wave of blue flame towards the same man.

Predictably, his first few blasts were blocked by the Platypus Firebender. After all, you didn't get this far into the Pro-Bending League without having good instincts and reflexes. However, after he had blocked three of the blasts, the fourth and fifth managed to impact his chest, sending him reeling back and teetering on the edge of his zone.

He was also so focused on dealing with the quick, successive blasts of flame that he completely neglected to notice the much large wave of blue flame headed for his waist; well, until it was _just_ about to strike him, that is.

With a pained grunt, the man was sent skidding back with his armor letting off a fair amount of steam. He was sent back one full zone, then two…and _just_ to the edge of zone three.

Naruto, however, had not been idle in the time that the man was shoved back. Drowning out the excitement of the announcer shouting out every movement in the match, he sent out several more lightning-quick punches towards the man – all but ignoring the enemy team's Earthbender and Waterbender whom his teammates were handling.

The Platypus Firebender, in all honesty, never stood a chance. Despite the fact that there was plenty of space to enable him to react to any incoming blasts sent towards him, the blasts of flame that the blond sent towards him was seemingly endless and always in incredibly quick succession. He handled himself for one or two more blows before several caught him on the chest – sending him off of the arena and into the water below.

Even as the crowd went wild at that, Naruto glanced to his remaining two opponents and grinned slightly at the now-nervous looks on their faces. Even while this happened, Choji landed a solid hit with an Earth disc against the enemy Waterbender who was sent teetering towards the end of zone two.

Taking in a deep breath, Naruto then began launching an absolute salvo of quick punches and kicks towards both of the remaining opponents.

The enemy Earthbender, still trading blows with Shikamaru while in zone one, barely even managed to catch the fact that the blond had sent several blasts of fire towards him. While still trying to push the Shikamaru back, or at _least_ make him go heavily on the defensive, he was clipped on the side by a blast of flame that pushed him near the ropes and made his armor steam. The blow, while only minor, allowed Shikamaru to send a blast of water at the man's leg. As it hit, the man lost his center of balance and began to stumble.

And everyone knows that if you're stumbling in a Pro-Bending match, you're a sitting turtle duck.

Shikamaru, despite the laziness he had seemingly displayed in the locker room, capitalized on this mercilessly. With a quick flourish, he sent a powerful blast of water towards the man's upper-body – catching him almost squarely in the chest as a result. He was quickly sent tumbling back heavily into zone three as a result.

The enemy Waterbender meanwhile, having been pushed back to zone two by Choji, had _just _enough time to notice and then dodge the first few flame blasts while still trading blows with the stocky Earthbender. However, a particularly quick burst of flames from Naruto towards his upper-chest prevented him from noticing the disc that had been sent towards his legs until it was too late. As such, his legs were suddenly knocked out from underneath him – making him fall prone onto his face. Without any noticeable hesitation, Naruto swopped down and performed a sweeping low-kick, sending a wave of flame against the entirety of the man's downed body.

With a grunt of pain, the man was sent rolling hastily off of the arena and into the drink.

After only then being given the green light to move forward since the push back and subsequent knockout happened almost simultaneously, all three of the Fire Shadows then progressed all the way into the enemy's zone two – their sole opponent being at the edge of the arena already as he struggled to quickly push himself back up to his feet. Without a word, the three of them sent quick bursts of their various elements towards him.

The Earthbender never stood a chance as he was sent spinning into the water below.

_Ding Ding!_

The crowd, understandably, roared in applause at the dominant display.

"And in a mere twenty-three second knock-out, we see why these are our defending champions folks! If there was any doubt that the Fire Shadows had lost their mojo after their rise to the top last season, then it has _surely_ been put to rest after that slam-dunk of a victory!"

The announcer's words, still broadcast for the entire stadium and everyone listening in on the radio to hear, brought forth an even louder roar of applause from the crowd. After all, if there was one Pro-Bending team that was beloved by Republic City as a whole, it was the Akimichi Fire Shadows.


	4. Memorable Meetings

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Legend of Korra. This is purely a piece of fiction being made without profit. **

* * *

><p><span><strong>Author's Notes<strong>

**To those of you rather validly concerned about Jinora's age being a bit worrisome since she's included in the final pairing, she will not become heavily (sexually) involved in the romance until she reaches the age someone is recognized as an adult in the bending world which, at least in my opinion, would likely be around 16 give or take a year. That's not to say that there will be no romantic interaction between her and Naruto before that point, but Naruto won't be sleeping with someone who, in their world, is still considered underage. **

**Also, I've edited a scene in Chapter 2 to give Naruto a scar in the shape of a Lichtenberg figure along his right arm up to his shoulder blade. I felt it worth mentioning in this update to avoid any potential confusion in this chapter when it comes up. **

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto: The Dragon of the East<strong>

**Chapter 4: Memorable Meetings**

* * *

><p><strong>(The Next Day) <strong>

'_Meeting request…meeting request…fan mail…love letter…' _

Naruto's mind droned on as he sat behind a polished wooden desk sorting his mail in the Ambassador's Office of the Fire Nation Embassy. Aside from the golden Fire Nation insignia both on the front of his large desk and hanging behind him on the wall, the place was kept relatively undecorated much like his own home.

There was a shelf behind him that held a number of various alcohols on it, a bookshelf tucked against the wall that held various numerous thick books filled with records that were needed from time to time, a low table between two cushioned chairs directly in front of his desk, a small silken cushion in the back of the room that Kurama was currently curled up and sleeping upon, and a couch that was tucked off against the wall at the side of the room with another low table in front of it.

The blond himself, meanwhile, sat upon a cushioned office chair while placing the letters he was sorting through in one of several different piles that were quickly growing on his desk. Despite the surface of said desk being rather spacious, it was actually quite barren. A few framed photographs were present on either side showing him either receiving some sort of award or next to someone else, and a few folders seemed to be placed off to the side next to a container that held a few pens, but there were no baubles or knick-knacks that many others individuals likely would have had in his position.

_Knock knock knock_

"Enter," Naruto called, only glancing up to note who it was once the door silently swung open. The woman that came in had naturally darkened skin, dark-blue eyes, and light-grey hair with bangs that hung down to her chin while the rest was pulled into a tight bun in the back.

"Yes, Mabui?" The blond questioned after a moment, only noting idly that his assistant was clad in a green v-neck, knee-length skirt, and sandals like usual.

"Hiroshi Sato is here, Sir. He is requesting a meeting with you if you are available."

"…Is he now?" Naruto questioned again, though this time his brows rose up in what was obviously genuine surprise. "Well then, please send him in," he continued after taking a moment to gather his thoughts.

The woman merely gave him a nod in return before turning around and walking out of the office. A few moments then passed before the shorter and stouter form of the famous inventor walked through his door. The man's eyes were obviously glancing around to inspect his office and, judging by the way his brow raised a bit, he was obviously somewhat surprised by some aspect of the surroundings that he observed. Even as the blond noticed his look though, he stood and walked around his desk to greet the man properly.

"Mister Sato," he began, drawing the man's attention to him immediately as he moved towards him and extended a hand. "I must admit, this is quite the surprise."

"Ah, yes, well…" the famed inventor began and then trailed off as he slowly reached forward and shook hands. "I believe it's only fair that I return the one you dropped on me the other day, yes?"

"Hah, I suppose that's true enough," Naruto responded with a genuine smile at what he presumed was the man's attempt to lighten the mood. Letting go of his hand, he then gestured towards the chairs in front of his desk. "Please, take a seat."

Giving a nod, Hiroshi did just that as he slid into one of the chairs while the blond slipped behind his desk once again.

"Since you were kind enough to offer one to me the other day, would you care for a drink?" Naruto offered, as he gestured to the assortment of alcohol behind him. He also had to stop a snort of laughter from escaping as the older man's face quickly lost most of its color.

"No, that won't be necessary," he responded in a nervous tone. "My daughter has…well, let's just say she gave me quite thereminder about what exactly she thinks of my drinking habits after our last meeting."

"Ah, I see," Naruto replied with a small smile at the mental image of Asami chastising the man over that particular issue. "Well then," he continued as he sank back into his own chair, "what can I do for you?"

At this, the stout man took in a deep breath through his nose before blowing it out harshly.

"I believe we both know why I'm here, Ambassador, so let's skip the usual games," Hiroshi began as his eyes connected with the blond's own. "What is it that you want from me to go through with the extradition you offered?"

'…_Heh, I should have expected that he would think I was using the entire thing as leverage,' _Naruto thought after a few moments, though he didn't let the momentary confusion show on his face. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at one of his framed pictures in front of him and let a small smile pull at his lips again. Reaching out, he grasped the frame and extended it towards the older man across from him.

"Do you recognize anyone or anything in this photograph?"

Adjusting his spectacles after a brief pause, Hiroshi took the frame and gave it a close inspection. It was an old photograph of four individuals in front of a rather small, wooden home. A large man, both in height and in girth, with red hair traveling down in a mane over his back stood at the back beside what was presumably his wife. She was also quite large, but had short black hair instead of wild hair like her husband did. Directly in front of them was a slightly-cubby young boy with spiked brown hair – likely their son based on the similarities in their faces.

Standing beside the young boy, however, was a face he finally recognized. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of none other than a _very_ young Naruto standing beside the chubby boy with a wide grin on his face and his hands hidden behind his head with his fox resting atop his scalp.

Then, glancing around the photo once more, his eyes caught what he quickly assumed the blond was wanting him to search for. The symbol of a simple red swirl was engraved in the wood over the door of the small home – a symbol that nearly _anyone_ in Republic City would recognize if they ever went out to eat.

The symbol of the Akimichi family and, subsequently, their resteraunt.

"Well…" the man began as he tore his gaze from the photo and turned it back to Naruto. "I recognize you, obviously, as well as what I'd guess is your pet fox. I know that the symbol on the house belongs to the Akimichi family, but I'm afraid I don't know any of their names off-hand."

"That's quite alright, not many people do to be perfectly honest," Naruto responded with a chuckle as he gestured for the photograph before taking it and gazing upon it fondly for a few seconds. "Most people only really bother to know their last name thanks to their resteraunt. To me though…to me…they may as well be family."

This caused the famed inventor to blink several times in surprise before his brow furrowed in what was obviously confusion.

"Despite many people thinking otherwise, I did not grow up solely in the Fire Nation," the blond continued, upon glancing up from the photo momentarily and reading the confusion that was clearly written on the man's face. "I spent nearly the first eight years of my life in this city. The later five of those years, if not for the Akimichi family's kindness, would have been spent on the streets as an orphan after my parents were murdered."

Naruto then carefully set the frame back upon its original position on his desk before turning his gaze fully upon the famed inventor once again.

"You are not the only one to have witnessed someone close to you be struck down by Firebenders, Mister Sato."

Judging by the astonishment that quickly became evident on the older man's face, it was quite clear that he hadn't expected to hear that particular piece of information. The look, however, quickly shifted into a more neutral expression once he had gotten over his surprise.

"I…I am sorry for your loss," Hiroshi stated in a genuine-sounding tone after a few moments of silence.

"There is no need to apologize for what you did not know about; I have been at peace with what happened for quite some time now anyway," Naruto responded with a small, sad-looking smile. "However, the reason I bring up my past at all is because of how similar my situation was to the one you have also gone through. The only substantial difference was that my parents' murderer was brought to justice almost immediately while your wife's, unfortunately, was not."

The familiar creak of wood that came from Hiroshi's hands gripping the arms of the chair told him that the man did not need to be reminded of that last fact.

"Yes, I am _well_ aware of that fact," the inventor began a bit tensely. "However, I can't help but notice that you have still failed to answer my initial question."

"Ah, yes, that," Naruto began as he looked the man directly in the eyes. "Well, 'skipping the games' as you so put it, the truth is that there is nothing that I require of you for doing this."

Hiroshi, having played the political game for years now, did little to conceal the confusion that became apparent on his expression at the man's statement. Given the fact that they were in his office and alone, this would be the perfect opportunity to try to blackmail him in order to follow through with the extradition process.

"…Nothing?"

"Nothing."

"Surely there must be something," Hiroshi countered after a momentary pause to ensure that nothing else was tacked on as if it was an afterthought. "No politician does something without a purpose."

"Oh, I have my reasons, but I still _require_ nothing from you for this to be done. What I would _like_, however, is another matter in its entirety," Naruto admitted.

'_I knew it,' _the spectacled man thought before he vocalized anything. "…Well, what is it you _want _then?"

"If I need to schedule another meeting with you at some point, I would like it if you could find a way to squeeze me in quicker than last time despite your busy schedule. Two years is a bit of a lengthy wait with what little patience I actually possess," Naruto finished with a knowing smile towards the man.

"…I'm sure that can be arranged after what you've done for me and my family," the spectacled man admitted freely. Such a small concession meant absolutely nothing to him if he was able to face of his wife's killer in return.

"Splendid, then you may consider us even," the blond continued after a moment while dutifully ignoring surprise that became evident on the older man's face once again. "Now then, I feel it's safe to presume that you'd like to have the man extradited here?"

"_Absolutely_," Hiroshi nearly spat with absolute loathing.

"Good…very good," Naruto began with a nod. "He will be here in two days."

"T-Two days?" The older man stammered. "I know Fire Nation ships are fast, but…"

"After our last meeting, I messaged Fire Lord Izumi immediately requesting for the extradition," the blond confessed. "I knew there was no chance you wouldn't want to see the man face-to-face at least once after seeing how you reacted to the information I gave you. As I'd made arrangements beforehand, the prisoner and a group of guards set out early yesterday morning on one of our quickest vessels. As I stated before, there was nothing I _required_ of you to do this. It is my opinion that seeing the killer of someone you loved brought to justice is something that politics should not stand in the way of."

"I…I see," Hiroshi stated simply as his eyes closed and he seemed to retreat to his own thoughts. After a few moments, he drew in a deep breath through his nose and blew it out evenly through his mouth as if calming himself. "It seems as if I must thank you again then, Ambassador."

"Please, there is no need," Naruto responded with a dismissive wave of his hand in front of his face. "I'm just following through on what I promised a bit quicker than what you likely expected, it's hardly anything worth thanking me over."

Instead of disputing the blond's words, the spectacled man merely nodded towards him in acceptance of the statement.

_Knock Knock_

"Yes Mabui?" Naruto called loudly enough to ensure that the woman would hear him.

"My apologies for interrupting Sir, but your ten o'clock appointment is here," said woman stated simply after creaking the door open and poking her head in just enough to address him.

"Thank you, tell him I'll be with him in a moment."

The dark-skinned woman simply nodded before taking her exit from the room once again.

"Ah, I wouldn't want to intrude on any of your previous appointments," Hiroshi stated as he pushed himself out of his chair and shot the blond a very small but genuine smile. "Shall I return here in two days or…?"

"I will send you a message when he is brought in before we turn him over to the Metalbending Police Force," Naruto answered as he stood from behind his desk and moved towards the door behind his unexpected visitor.

"That will suffice, I will let my staff know to keep an eye out for it," the stout man stated as he reached the door and began to pull it open.

"If I may, Mister Sato, I would like to leave you with a parting thought," Naruto stated before the inventor moved too far away. Seeing the man turn towards him with a slightly quirked brow to show that he was listening, he continued on.

"It would be an insult to your intelligence by continuing to pretend to be oblivious to the fact that you detest Firebenders. You are neither the first to do so, nor, I imagine, will you be the last. However, it is not the measure or the nature of someone's Chi that should ever make one man detest another, but rather the decisions they make in life and how those decisions shape them. We are all human at the end of the day and _that_, despite what members of the Equalist Party may claim, is what truly makes us all equal."

Hiroshi, who had willingly listened closely to every word, felt his eyes widen once again as he stared into the blue eyes of the blond before him. A sense of dread settled in the pit of his stomach as he focused on the last sentence that had been uttered. Even as sweat gathered a bit at his brow, his mind raced with one continuous thought over and over again.

'_Does he know?' _

"I…I see," the inventor sputtered a bit aloud, cursing himself inwardly for that moment of weakness. "I…will have to keep that in mind."

"You do that," Naruto responded with a grin towards the man as he clapped him on the shoulder. "I'll see you sometime in the next few days."

Nodding, although ignorant at the beads of sweat that were now already running down his brow, Hiroshi quickly turned and began walking away as calmly as he could force himself to.

'_You're a very poor actor when you don't know what to expect, Hiroshi,' _Naruto thought as he stared after the man walking down the hallway of the embassy. _'I may not have authority or proof to do anything about it right now, but if you end up standing beside Amon with those machines of yours, I'll bring you down alongside him.' _

"Well, that was certainly an interesting end to a conversation," a voice sounded from the blond's immediate right – one that made him smirk a bit as he flicked his gaze in that direction. Standing there was a man slightly shorter than himself with black, unkempt hair and black eyes. He was clad in a simple black long-sleeved t-shirt, a pair of pants to match, and simple dark-blue shoes.

"Yes, well he's a bit different than I expected him to be," the blond admitted before taking in a breath and letting out a bit of a sigh. "Well don't just stand there Shisui, come in and let's get your report out of the way."

"Very well," the man responded before the two of them turned and went back into the Ambassador office. After ensuring the door was closed, Naruto moved behind his desk as Shisui stood directly in front of it.

"I'm still unaware of what exactly it is, but Amon's definitely getting ready to make his move…"

* * *

><p><strong>(Later that afternoon, Air Temple Island)<strong>

With Kurama atop his scalp as per the norm, Naruto was walking down a paved path rubbing his right hand gently over right temple. Even though he was well aware that the movement wouldn't alleviate the mild headache he had in any way, it certainly felt nice nonetheless.

'_What in the world are you planning, Amon?' _He pondered for perhaps the hundredth time today, his inside man Shisui having had no exact details other than the fact that Equalist activity had risen and that they were spying on a few of Republic City's gang leaders since shortly after the Avatar had arrived. However, slowly, he managed to push the thoughts to the side for the umpteenth time since he had received his spy's report. Until he had some other sort of information to work with, there would be no telling what the Equalist leader's real plans really were.

Instead, he drew in a deep breath and gazed forward to catch the all-too-familiar site of a moderately-sized wooden pagoda – a place he had spent a lot of time practicing breathing techniques and meditating while studying Airbending. However, the only reason he was here today was to request something of the man that, at least according to one of the White Lotus guards on the island, was currently located within said pagoda.

Sure enough, once he got closer, the sight of four identically clad individuals sitting in front of the Airbending Master made his lips pull up into a slight smile for the first time in the last few hours.

"Yeah, it isn't sinking in yet," he overheard Korra say as she suddenly rose from her meditative position and pushed herself to her feet. "I'm gonna go get a glass of Lychee juice."

Turning around, her eyes widened slightly upon spotting Naruto before she blinked several times in quick succession.

"Korra, the meditation session isn't ov—" Tenzin began before cutting himself off as he finally took notice of Naruto's sudden appearance as well.

"Hey guys," the blond greeted with a simple wave as his smile grew a bit wider.

Jinora and Ikki quickly turned around and smiled at him, but Meelo remained silent before falling backwards with a soft _thud_ as he hit the floor. As it turns out, falling asleep while meditating can result in rather comical wake-up calls.

"Naruto," Tenzin greeted evenly without moving himself from the lotus position. "What brings you here this time?"

"Ah, I was hoping I could make use of one of your cliffs overlooking the sea again. I find myself needing some peace of mind after the day I've had."

"Oooh, ooooh, Daddy, can I go watch?" Ikki questioned excitedly.

Tenzin opened his mouth to shoot her down immediately, but found himself cut off.

"Actually, can I go watch too Dad? I…I want to observe the motions he makes more to see if it's possible to do something similar with Airbending," Jinora explained while her cheeks turned a bit red.

"…Fine," the Airbending Master answered after letting out a loud sigh. "I highly doubt the meditation session will do any more good anyway. Just be back inside before it gets dark, alright?"

"Yay! Thank you Daddy!" Ikki exclaimed happily before she rose up and quickly ran over to the blond in question. "Come on, come on! I wanna see you go bzzzzt again when you do the zappy thing!"

"Zappy thing?" Korra finally questioned with humor lacing her voice, not having had time beforehand to get in a word thanks to the Airbenders.

"Ikki here," Naruto began before flicking said girl lightly on her forehead much to her ire, "has taken to calling my lightning generation 'the zappy thing.'"

"Ow~" The energetic girl drew out as she brought a hand up to her forehead and rubbed the area she had been struck in gently. Since she waited until he had finished speaking before saying anything, it was quite clear that it didn't actually hurt that much.

"Wait, lightning? You can actually generate lightning?" The Avatar inquired once again with surprise and excitement evident in her expression.

"Sure can," the blond answered with a grin as he reached up and removed Kurama from his scalp before silently handing him off to Ikki as a peace offering of sorts. "Wanna come see?"

"Yeah, that'd be awesome!" Korra responded eagerly before Naruto gestured and began to lead the group towards some of the cliffs overlooking the sea behind the pagoda. A few moments of silence then passed if one were excluding the sounds of an excited Ikki cooing at the fox in her arms. It was only after they had neared one of the cliffs that Naruto spoke again.

"So, seeing as Lee was your Firebending Master, I'm guessing you've never seen someone generate lightning before?" Naruto questioned with a glance to the Water Tribe teen.

"No…I asked about it, but he always told me it was way too dangerous to mess with," she confessed.

"I assumed as much. He actually told me the something similar when I asked about it," Naruto began before reaching over with his left hand and slipping his right arm out of the arm-guard that usually protected it. Then, after tucking that under his left arm to hold temporarily, he began slipping up his right sleeve until it came up to his bicep – exposing the pink-ish markings that ran along the skin of his arm.

Korra, who had directed her gaze towards the blond upon noticing him doing something, merely let her eyes widen at the sight. Jinora and Ikki, meanwhile, didn't seem to be affected in the least – obviously having seen it at some point in the past.

"Master Lee isn't wrong in saying that lightning generation is dangerous," the Firebender began while moving his arm around a bit. "Lightning requires discipline and nothing short of perfection in order to generate or manipulate; anything less, even if it's something as small as a single _hair _that's out of place, can cause lightning to course through your body and leave you with one of these…assuming you're lucky enough to live through it at all, that is."

Korra merely gave a bit of a shaky nod in return to acknowledge that she had heard him. Despite her mastery of Firebending and two of the other four elements, she had yet to work with anything that sounded so dangerous. It would be a rather large understatement to say that she was a bit intimidated by the prospect after hearing that.

"However, despite the danger it poses, bending lightning can be one of the most…well, _electrifying _things you can ever experience as a Firebender," Naruto continued with a grin while dutifully ignoring the fact that Korra and Jinora both face-palmed at his choice of words. Secretly, he was rather thankful that the pun had come to him to ease the seriousness of the topic.

"…Oh, I get it," Ikki stated before bursting into a loud giggle a few moments later.

"That was _so_ terrible," Korra muttered from behind her hand as she dragged it down over her face.

"I think you mean _amazing_," the blond corrected while his grin grew a bit larger. "Anyway, my point is that lightning is so powerful that it feels almost as if it's a different element all together. It's one of the most amazing sensations I've ever experienced."

'…_In hindsight, that probably sounds a little weird to people who haven't actually experienced it before,' _he thought as he glanced towards Korra. Sure enough, she had an eyebrow quirked and was looking at him a bit skeptically. _'Yeah, definitely need to bring it down a notch.' _

"Bah, just wait here and see for yourself. You'll see what I mean soon enough," Naruto stated as they reached the cliff he had gestured towards. After slipping his sleeve back down and pulling his forearm guard back on over it, he climbed up the last few meters to overlook the sea while standing a fair distance away from the others.

Once he was satisfied with his positioning, he started taking in deep breaths through his nose and blowing them out through his mouth as he went through the steps to clear his mind. The process made a fleeting smile cross his lips as he could've sworn her heard the familiar feminine voice of his last, and by far the most powerful, Firebending instructor as if she were next to him.*****

"_I don't know what your other instructors, and I use that term __**very **__loosely, have been teaching you. However, if you're going to learn from me, then you're going to be the absolute best. When it comes to Firebending, nothing less than absolute perfection is ever 'good enough.'" _

Still hearing the voice as if it were right next to him, the blond bent his legs slightly and dove 'into himself' as he quickly felt out his massive pool of chi and began separating it into two parts.

"_Most people will tell you that lightning generation requires absolute peace of mind to be able to use, but that's an exaggeration, really. If that were true, then there's no chance in Hell that I would've been able to use it when I was younger. All it requires is absolute focus, which is something that can be done by most who try hard enough and have dedication. …Did you know that lightning is called cold-blooded fire by some people? I always thought that was a fitting name since I enjoyed using it so much…" _

After pulling his Chi into the separate Yin and Yang energies that it was composed of, he extended the index and middle fingers of both of his hands and began a slow rhythm of moving his arms in what almost appeared to be a half-circle sort of motion in front of him. Almost immediately, blue arcs of lightning started covering and trailing behind his fingertips.

"_Using lightning regularly might make you feel like you're invincible or, at the very least, untouchable. It took me a long, __**long**__ time to realize that the world doesn't work like that. Lightning is incredibly powerful, but people can manage to dodge it on occasion or another Firebender can redirect it at you if they're skilled enough. …Speaking of, actually, how was little Zuzu the last time you saw him? _

As Naruto kept moving his arms through the same repeated motions, the arcs of lightning grew more numerous and larger with each swing of his arms. The air in the surrounding area, if someone were to enter it, would make their hair stand on end – something Korra and the others were currently experiencing.

Then, suddenly, his rhythm deviated as his right arm shot out straight in front of him. In less time than it took to blink, the lightning that hard been coursing partially over his body by that point gathered to his two extended fingertips and shot out in a bright arc into the area he had pointed towards.

"_Perfect. Absolutely perfect. I don't even think the two old hags who helped train me could've found anything wrong. …Then again, seeing as you've got some of my blood in your veins, I suppose I shouldn't expect anything less of you." _

"_Of course Grandma. After all, when it comes to Firebending, nothing less than perfection is ever 'good enough.'"_

Naruto smirked at the sound of his own response to the woman in the past as he took in a deep breath and quickly turned around to face his group of spectators. However, he quickly had to bring up his hands to cover his mouth as he suppressed his laughter. It did not, however, stop the snickers that escaped.

"That…that was amazing!" Korra exclaimed, having felt her body tingle a bit as the blond had generated lightning. However, her excitement quickly morphed into curiosity upon noticing that he was obviously struggling not to laugh as he looked at them. Then, hearing snickers off to the side, she turned to see Ikki and Jinora doing the same thing.

However, her eyes widened upon noting that their hair was a bit frazzled as it seemed to stand up on its end and gave it more 'poof' so to speak. Even Kurama, who was still being held in Ikki's arms, looked like his fur was frazzled.

Following their gaze, Korra brought her hand up to her hair, grabbed one of the braids that framed her face, and brought it up to look at. Sure enough, the ends of it were had spread out substantially and 'poofier' than usual. Imagining the sight within her mind, she had to suppress a bit of a chuckle of her own.

"…How ridiculous do I look right now?" She finally questioned.

"Big brother! Daddy said you were gon—" Meelo's voice interrupted, causing everyone who hadn't noticed him to turn around to see him. However, he stopped dead as his gaze fell onto Korra.

"Hah….hahahahahHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The youngest Airbender laughed, the sound growing in volume and strength until he actually had to sit on the ground and gripped his stomach due to a slight ache it had from laughing so hard.

"…Well that answers that question, I guess," Korra stated with a soft chuckle of her own.

"Indeed it does," Naruto stated as he approached the group with a snicker of his own as he glanced up to her frizzled hair again. "So, what'd you think?"

"It was amazing. I'd never felt that much power in the air before…" Korra responded before trailing off for a moment as a smile crept across her lips. "It was…shocking."

_Smack_

"Not you too," Jinora groaned from the side after smacking her palm onto her forehead.

"That's the spirit, we'll make a joker out of you yet!" Naruto exclaimed with a wide grin before his face sobered a bit. "While we're at it though, how about we make a better Firebender out of you too?"

"What do you mean?" Korra responded after blinking a few times in surprise.

"Tell me, Korra," he began as a grin replaced the more serious expression he had gotten for a few moments. "Would you like to learn how to generate lightning?"

* * *

><p><strong>End<strong>

**So yeah, Chapter 4. I'm relatively content with it, though I felt I certainly could've made a few things flow smoother. My apologies for the lack of any real action, but I felt I needed to get in some exposition - especially with Hiroshi. Hopefully it didn't come across as heavily forced. **

*** To clear up any possible confusion about the issue, Naruto has had several different Firebending instructors in the past. Lee, the one in the first chapter, was the first while others came later when he was more experienced. **


End file.
